Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Dementia and Memory Loss
By Dr. Michele R. Reillo
Dementia describes a disorder which causes memory loss, loss of speech, changes in mood and behavior, difficulty understanding, and confusion. Vascular dementia, which is caused by damage to the small blood vessels in the brain, is effectively treated using hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Vascular dementia is common among people who have had strokes and long histories of hypertension. Vascular dementia is also associated with mild head trauma, from falls, and athletic injuries to the brain.
Infectious diseases, such as Lyme disease and Zika, also cause dementia which affects the small blood vessels and neurons throughout the brain. Soldiers and veterans are likely to experience cognitive decline when brain injury from combat has occurred. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve and often reverse the cognitive impairment associated with injuries to the brain, regardless of when the injury occurred. In a recent study conducted in Israel, hyperbaric oxygen therapy was found to improve brain function among those people who had experience stroke and head injury decades earlier.
The Neubauer Hyperbaric Neurologic Center specializes in the treatment of brain injuries. The professional staff at the Center, trained under Dr. Neubauer, the pioneer of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of brain injury, can provide an assessment and a plan for treatment if you or your loved ones are experiencing dementia which was caused by injury to the small blood vessels in the brain. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is also effective in maintaining healthy brain function and memory. Oxygen under pressure, administered in a comfortable chamber, increases blood flow throughout the brain and improves mental clarity, relieves fatigue, improves, vision, and increases awareness.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is beneficial to the healthy brain and critical to the healing of the injured brain.