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Thursday, February 5, 2015

Dangers To Address Prior To Hyperbaric Facility Planning

By Janine Hughes


The inhalation of 100% pure oxygen while lying inside a sealed chamber is highly regarded as a healthy and non-invasive treatment for many conditions. However, as with all medical treatments, there are always some risks for some patients. These risks must be considered when engaged in hyperbaric facility planning.

There will be codes and probably a license of some sort just to be able to store large quantities of pure oxygen on-site. These codes may well vary from state-to-state due to a variety of reasons. Whatever rules individual states must follow, it is due to the combustibility and explosive quality of oxygen canisters.

These chambers are often found in acute care centers along the coast because the treatment has been FDA-approved for the treatment of decompression sickness. This condition happens to divers who come up to the surface too quickly. Success has also been met with the use of this treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning, and the FDA does recommend attempting to treat these patients in a chamber to see if they can get the patient breathing again.

Hands-down the most dangerous side-effect of any treatment occurs when patients place more confidence in the treatment than they should, believing it can cure illnesses for which testing and research has not yet been conducted. This particular treatment has promised to cure ailments such as cancer, diabetes, and autism even though no research has been conducted showing that there is anything more than a placebo effect taking place.

Although research is still being done, because it is a benign treatment that truly makes patients feel better, many people suffering serious illness seek these chambers. Anything that can make a cancer patient feel better is generally regarded as a positive thing. However, patients are cautioned to continue their chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy if that is the treatment they agreed to in the beginning.

Too few of the regular patients are aware of the side-effects that have been attributed to this particular therapy. Probably the most disturbing side-effect is the sudden onset of seizures effecting nearly one in ten patients who undergo treatment. Naturally, this therapy is never recommended for a patient who suffers from a seizure condition to begin with, and other patients are now being told that, after ninety minutes in the chamber, they must spend at least ten minutes outside it breathing room air.

Only slightly less disturbing is the fact that patients who undergo regular sessions may experience a form of myopia which appears to be temporary. This effect seems to last weeks or months, but it can be quite troublesome. Because the risk of this increases when a patient has multiple sessions, it is recommended that patients limit the amount of time they spend in the chamber.

Worse than the myopia is the potential for permanent damage to the inner ear. This can be dangerous to elderly patients or anyone suffering osteoporosis. The inner ear controls balance, and a sudden and unexplained attack of vertigo can cause a person to take a terrible fall.




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