Research shows hyperbaric oxygen treatments have helped patients with stroke, autism, brain trauma and wounds.
Imagine a breath of fresh air treating everything from burns to brain injuries.
That idea has become a medical reality.
Hyperbaric chambers have become a more common treatment in Europe. And now there's a new push to bring more here.
For many patients it's like breathing hope.
"I was a truck driver in the United States Army," Hugh Boyle said.
And it was his job in the Vietnam War that left 62-year-old Boyle injured. His tractor trailer rolled over and exploded on Aug. 10, 1970.
"I had sustained a spinal cord injury, which resulted in what amounts to a quadriplegia," Boyle said.
Surgery and physical therapy have allowed him to gain back some movement over the years. When he saw an ad on the Internet for a study using hyperbaric oxygen treatment to help injured soldiers he jumped at the chance to help out.
"What I'm trying to do here is to just be part of that data stream," Boyle said.
"It should take approximately two years for the study. Each soldier will be getting 40 to 80 treatments," hyperbaric expert Hope Fine said.
Fine oversees a group of soldiers participating in the national study. She said the study mission is two fold -- first, to help injured soldiers and, second, to get the government to take notice.
"We're trying to show the government how effective the hyperbaric oxygen treatment is, so these soldiers can get either back to life or they can get back to the front line and it will save them billions of dollars in pharmaceuticals," Fine said.
Fine said research shows this treatment has helped patients with stroke, autism, brain trauma and wounds.
"Most people start seeing a difference after the first or second week. They will start feeling different. They'll start sleeping better. Their moods will improve. Their memory will start to improve," Fine said.
To participate you must be a soldier or veteran with mild to moderate brain injury or suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Boyle said he hopes something good will come from it.
"Potential benefits may well be very worth while," Boyle said.
Individuals getting the experimental treatment will breathe 100 percent oxygen for an hour a day, five days a week. The researchers said the ultimate goal is to get Medicare to recognize the health benefits and pay for hyperbaric treatments.
Generally, hyperbaric chambers are very safe, with only minor side effects like problems with ears and sinuses due to the pressure.
More serious complications can lead to seizures or airway diseases.
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