Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for Vascular Dementia

Do you or a loved one suffer from Vascular Dementia? If so, we may have good news for you! Some recent studies are showing that there may be some significant benefits of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for vascular dementia. People are actually showing improvement in their vascular dementia symptoms after a hyperbaric oxygen treatment plan.

Maybe we should back up. Let’s first explain vascular dementia and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

What is Vascular Dementia?

According to the Mayo Clinic:

Vascular dementia is a general term describing problems with reasoning, planning, judgment, memory and other thought processes caused by brain damage from impaired blood flow to your brain.

A lot of people develop vascular dementia after a stroke. However, it doesn’t have to be a stroke. If you have a condition that prevents normal blood flow to the brain, you may still be at risk for vascular dementia. Some of these factors include:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Smoking

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

We all know oxygen is essential for life. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy just gives you more of this wonderful gas. The therapy usually involves either sitting in a pressurized oxygen chamber or breathing concentrated oxygen under pressure through a mask.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy really helps cells heal, such as for wounds that won’t heal on their own. Now scientists are starting to look at using hyperbaric oxygen therapy for vascular dementia and other forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s. We definitely looking at it in our assisted living homes as part of the ReCODE or Bredesen Protocol.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for Vascular Dementia

Some new studies are showing significant improvement in dementia symptoms after treatments with hyperbaric oxygen.

One study on mice found reductions of beta-amyloid plaques, which doctors associate with dementia, by 45-56%. They also saw a large improvement in the ability of mice to perform basic tasks after the therapy.

Then that study gave 6 elderly patients hyperbaric oxygen treatment for vascular dementia for 60 sessions over three months.

After the hyperbaric oxygen treatment for vascular dementia, the researchers saw a significant improvement both in cognitive testing and short-term memory. The results were statistically significant and showed hyperbaric oxygen therapy can make a big difference in vascular and other forms of dementia.

How to Sign Up for Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment for Vascular Dementia

The good news is that insurance will most likely cover hyperbaric oxygen treatment for vascular dementia and other health issues. Like many other procedures covered by insurance, chances are you will need a doctor’s prescription to receive the treatment.

Once you have the prescription, most hospitals or large clinic will have a hyperbaric chamber. The chambers can be as small as a tube for a person to lie in it, to a large room with multiple patients at one time.

There are also smaller units that consist just of a mask that covers your face and mouth. They may be used in conjunction with some form of exercise such as the Live O2 system. The smaller systems may be found in doctor’s offices and smaller clinics.

Individual treatment sessions may last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on the system. It may take 40-60 sessions before you start seeing some real effects.

Conclusion

More and more studies are starting to show the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for vascular dementia. Have you had any experience with hyperbaric oxygen? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below.