November Newsletter

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After reviewing Lee's results and brain scans, his neurologist said, "I didn't know very much about hyperbarics before, but based on what I'm seeing now, I don't see why we can't do this for everyone who has a stroke."

Susan Sprau, M.D., UCLA pulmonologist, discusses the proven benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for the treatment of radiation damage, acute blood loss anemia, carbon monoxide poisoning, retinal artery occlusion and scuba diving injuries.

Paul G. Harch, M.D. is an emergency medicine and hyperbaric medicine clinician who is Clinical Professor of Medicine, Section of Emergency Medicine, at LSU School of Medicine, New Orleans, and former director of the University Medical Center Hyperbaric Medicine Department and LSU Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Harch initiated and maintains a private practice that has resulted in the largest case experience in neurological hyperbaric medicine in the world. In this practice he adapted the concepts of conventional hyperbaric oxygen therapy to wounds in the central nervous system that spawned the subsequent academic and research practice. 

Beginning with brain injured divers and boxers in 1989, he applied his protocol to the first HBOT-treated cerebral palsy (1992) and autistic children (1996-2000) in this country and multiple other cerebral disorders, including most recently the first PET documented Alzheimer’s case (1/2019) and a subacute drowned child (Medical Gas Research 3/2017). This drowning case was the first demonstration of global regrowth of brain tissue in humans. He has now treated the largest series of drowned children in the world, over 100 children. In addition, He has successfully treated U.S. servicemen with TBI and PTSD, publishing the first case in 2009, a case series in 2012, a case-controlled series in 2019, and in March, 2020 a randomized controlled trial in civilians and veterans with mild traumatic brain injury. 

This human work was buttressed by application of the human protocol to animals in 2007 that stands as the first and only improvement of chronic brain injury in animals in the history of science. Dr. Harch’s work andperspective on hyperbaric oxygen therapy was published in his book, The Oxygen Revolution, where HBOT is explained as an epigenetic therapy with expected revolutionary effects on medicine and neurology. In March, 2020 he proposed the application of HBOT to COVID-19 pneumonia based on the successful use of hyperbaric treatment for dying Spanish Flu patients in 1918 and has now successfully treated patients with COVID-19 Long-Haulers Syndrome. 

 I'll never forget back in medical school that we were told that the brain was "terminally differentiated.” This means that brain cells were what they were, and could never be regenerated. As such, when a person had a stroke or brain injury, that was pretty much the end. There would be no improvement.  

That understanding stands in stark contrast to what we have observed. Clearly, stroke patient can and do improve. And, it turns out, that this improvement can be enhanced with a type of therapy that applies pure oxygen under pressure to the patient. This increased oxygen in the brain does some wonderful things including, importantly, enhancing the growth of new brain cells. What a concept. 

I have a long experience with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, having founded one of the countries largest hyperbaric centers. Much of the data upon which we relied came from researchers in Israel who were and continue to do cutting edge science demonstrating the profound effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as it relates to stroke recovery. Nowadays, improvements in brain functionality can actually be visualized with state of the art brain imaging equipment. 

Today, on the Empowering Neurologist, I have the great honor of interviewing Dr. Shai Efrati, one of the global leaders in the application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of stroke. Dr. Efrati is Founder and Director of the world-leading Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center, where he also serves as Director of Research and Development and Head of Nephrology. Dr. Efrati’s research focuses on novel aspects of hyperbaric medicine and brain rehabilitation. He is a professor at the Sackler School of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience in Tel Aviv University. Since 2008, he has served as Chairman of the Israeli Society for Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine.  

Importantly, Dr. Efrati is now associated with the Aviv Clinic, which is not only offering hyperbaric oxygen therapy, but a far more comprehensive approach for stroke recovery And fortunately, the clinic is located in the Villages, just outside of Orlando Florida.  Please enjoy this fascinating deep dive into the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, especially as it relates to stroke recovery.