JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A trailblazing new Israeli study reveals that oxygen therapy, performed in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber which increases the amount of oxygen in the body, can dramatically reduce post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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The study was made on IDF veterans suffering from the disorder, which develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. 18 veterans underwent the treatment and half of them responded so positively that they are now not deemed to have PTSD.
The results of the study were published in a peer-reviewed medical journal and could lead to new approaches to treating the disorder.
Tel Aviv University’s Dr. Keren Doenyas-Barak, part of the team behind the study, told The Times of Israel that “We’ve started in this research to treat PTSD in a way that seeks to effect on actual physical changes in the brain.
“This approach doesn’t rely on psychological tools. It’s biological, not psychological, so it represents something fresh.”
Doenyas-Barak explained that the impact of the oxygen therapy was judged both by standard assessment of symptoms used in diagnosis, and by brain scans. Both of these parameters showed strong improvement after oxygen therapy, which apparently increases the brain’s elasticity and enables wounded tissue to heal.
PTSD is triggered by experiencing an event so traumatic it cannot be fully processed, leaving parts of the brain in a state of hyper-arousal and harming its elasticity.
“Today we understand that treatment-resistant PTSD is caused by a biological wound in brain tissues, which obstructs attempts at psychological and psychiatric treatments,” said Prof. Shai Efrati, who led the research.
Efrati explained that oxygen therapy “induces reactivation and proliferation of stem cells, as well as generation of new blood vessels and increased brain activity, ultimately restoring the functionality of the wounded tissues.”
Efrati directs the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Shamir Medical Center, and his team has researched extensively the use of pure oxygen as a therapeutic tool for various diseases.
Efrati’s team noted that after time in the hyperbaric chamber, there is a rise in brain activity in the frontal lobes of the brain, a region that is responsible for emotional regulation and executive functions, and in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memories functions.
Efrati said the research could also help develop “objective” diagnostic tools for those suffering from PTSD.
“At present we are conducting continuing research in order to identify the biological fingerprint of PTSD, which can ultimately enable the development of innovative objective diagnostic tools,” he said.
The issue of PTSD gained media attention this year after Itzik Saidian, a veteran of the Protective Edge campaign, set himself alight outside the IDF’s Rehabilitation Center offices after receiving less recognition of his condition than he had requested. Saidian is currently recuperating after undergoing 30 operations and suffering third-degree burns on most of his body.
Awesome discovery and could have implications for some mentally ill too.
I wonder what that’ll do for degenerative mental illnesses.
In short, it’s breathing exercises. The good news is: iIt’s free, accessible to everyone and it works.
I wonder what the long term effect is. Here’s the thing. When a person is in distress, the very first bodily response is to hold the breath. So what the study is studying seems to target something very profound. However, once a person gets into the habit of holding ones breath, the body then uses it on a regular basis. How does this intervention target the long term effect of holding ones breath? I believe there are more questions, this only came up as I read the study.
WOW AMAZING