Disease States

Parkinson’s Disease and Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons of the nigro-striatal pathway. It is not clear how this neuronal degeneration is initiated, but there appears to be a number of potential ways in which this might occur in an individual, including genetics, disease, drugs, oxidative stress, exposure to pesticides or other environmental factors. However, once it is initiated there seems to be agreement that the degenerative process involves apoptosis and not necrosis. The clinical manifestation of the disease in any one patient is highly dependent upon the degree of severity of the neuronal loss, age of the patient, and length of time passed between onset of symptoms and the time of diagnosis.

The following are excerpts from three studies on the use of hyperbaric therapy (HBOT) on Parkinson’s disease.

As reported to the 12th International Congress on Hyperbaric Medicine in 2002, Dr. A. Borromeil’s study “Hyperbaric Efficiency in Decompensated-Complicated Parkinson’s Disease”, the comprehensive evaluations of the results, based on an objective clinical control using the Crichton Geriatric Behavioral Scales (CGBS) and the Webster Rating Scale (WRS) were favorable and encouraging.

His study involved 15 patients (8 men and 7 women) with an average age of 65.4 years. These were “complicated” patients meaning the illness is expressed with gravely disabling secondary phenomena, such as demential decline, the presence of pathologies concerning mood (especially depression), emotional inflexibility or other notable obsessive-phobia tracts.

Patients were given 25 daily treatments at 2.5 atmospheres (ATA) for 90 minutes, then maintenance therapy of 5 treatments of 2.5 ATA for 90 minutes every 3 months. The patients demonstrated profound improvements in rigidity, posture, facial expression, slowness of movement, gait, sleep, and mobility.

A case study at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California was on a 72 year old male with idiopathic PD. He was taking Sinemet 10/100 three times daily. Eighteen months after being diagnosed with PD he was treated daily 5 times each week for 5 weeks at 1.9ATA for 90 minutes. During the treatment the patient gradually reduced his dose of Sinemet until he was completely off his medication between the 3rd and 4th week of HBO treatment. The authors suggest that HBOT might be neuroprotective in nature to the nigro-striatal neurons by acting as an antiapoptotic process. This could stabilize neuronal function, thereby potentially decreasing the progression of the neurodegeneration of PD.

A 1989 study, “Hyperbaric Oxygenation in the Complex Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease” treated 64 patients. HBO treatments were provided daily at 1.3-2.0 ATA for 40-60 minutes. The beneficial effect was marked in 55 patients. Results of treatment was better in vascular Parkinsonism patients 65 years and older with a disease standing of 1-5 years.

Hyperbaric Center of Alabama provides Parkinson’s disease treatment options using hyperbaric oxygen chambers. We serve patients from Alabama, Mississippi, West Georgia and Northwest Florida in our clinic in Birmingham.