Tayla,

If you're interested in what I have to say about HBO, please read Buckwheat's thread Vascular Issues. In it you will find nearly everything I will say in my intended post: They involve replies to questions and clarifications where necessary, and they aren't well-organized structurally, but the answers to the questions you ask are there...Vic

Thank you Vic,


There was something you mentioned that really concerned me and that was that in some states people could be flipping burgers then running HBOT
I find it unimaginable that your AMA could allow this to occur when this treatment in the hands of unqualified personel could be lethal.
Our HBOT centres do not run unless there is a physician qualified in hyperbaric medicine, 4 qualified nursing staff and a hyperbaric technician all in attendance.
I would recommend that anyone considering HBOT do not proceed unless these staff are present to handle any emergency that may occur.
Cheers all
Tayla

Tayla,

As I recall, I wrote about why I believe the FDA does not impose stricter standards on HBO chamber operators, and I'm sure I urged anyone considering it to only choose chambers accredited by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society.

I don't however, believe that chambers need all the people you believe are absolutely essential -- anymore than I believe that every patient who fills a prescription for a med they have never used before needs nurses following them around in case of an adverse reaction (a far greater risk than death by oxygen).

There is a middle ground between these two extremes, and I described it in that thread...Vic

Vicc,

I must disagree with you. The HBOT chamber I attend has 12 people in it. All patients are carefully monitored and observations done before and after their treatment. Diabetics especially are prone to hypoglycaemia as a result of the treatment and can slip into a coma if not observed carefully over the 2 hours of treatment.
Have you ever been witness to someone collapse with oxygen toxicity? I have actually been extremely grateful for the medical staff who were able to resuscitate me.
Many patients have problems equallizing their ears and need a member of staff to assist them to do so so as not to risk blowing out their eardrums and some pateints can very quickly develop pulmonary embolus, this is, as you know a life and death situation.
As you have repeatedly said, it is imperative to get the treatment just right in terms of oxygen and ATA levels and this requires a team of well educated and skilled practitioners to achieve.
Many of the patients having treatment are actually critically ill with major infections and other severe illnesses. HBOT chambers are filled with unwell people and these patients must have the same level of care in the chamber as they would in a high dependency unit.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not a treatment that I would liken to getting a prescription made up for the first time---the risks factor is far greater and your analogy of having a "nurse follow them around" is greatly underestimating the complexity of the treatment.
Tayla

Now that everyone is scared ********, let me give you the really bad news:

We don't get all worked up about "worst case scenarios" at our nuclear power plants either...Vic

Vicc,

You can't have it both ways. I believe you have often descibed "worst case scenarios" particularly in your thread posts about the use of anti psychotic drugs!
Every patient who has HBOT must read and sign a release form that makes them well aware of all the risks but with the knowledge that there are well trained nurses and doctors available if something does go wrong, they usually choose to give it a try.
Have you ever had HBOT?
Tayla

I didn't realize that so many are in a HBOT treatment chamber at one time.
I thought { assumed} it was a one at a time personalized treatment.
I could see if so many with varying dx's were in one chamber for a tx - that many more attendants would be required to monitor everyone.

decided to look up a bit more on HBOT centers-
http://www.hbotofaz.org/
http://www.hyperbaricrx.com/home.html

this site lists many with contact and/or website links
http://www.kid-power.org/hbo.html


http://www.hbot.com/frontpage.htm

Hi Jo,

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society is made up of phsyicians who learned HBO treating deep-sea divers with "the bends" and learned a little more when it was discovered that HBO saves lives following carbon monoxide poisoning, and even later that it could prevent amputations in end-stage diabetes.

It is also made up of physicians who were attracted to HBO's potential beginning in the 1970s. With funding similar to that of RSD, their research has produced some really stuff and/or showed that the counter-intuitive can sometimes be right.

Right now it is about as dead-end as you can find in medicine: Specialize in HBO and tell your wife you'll have to wait a while before paying cash for that Beemer. You can still buy one, but not for cash.

Everybody know's they're doomed, because the pharmaceutical empire can't figure out a better replacement they can market and make billions on. It has been derisively referred to as "a cure in search of a disease"; the FDA and HHS have so severely restricted its use in accredited hospitals that it never amortizes itself but must be kept on because people sometimes suffer from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Yet HBO has achieved incredible popularity among the public. Enough so that specularors see it as a way to make a fast buck. FDA standards outside of accredited hospitals are as similar as 1870s Boston and 1870s Dodge City. I suspect FDA hopes for some sort of disaster so that it can shut down every chamber in the country. The FDA is totally owned by Pharma.

Oxygen toxicity may be a bad way to go, but I imagine it's quick. More important; it is rarer than hen's teeth. Even assuming my extreme example of someone coming over from MickyDee's, he she has to know how to read and follow directions. Even the greediest speculators know they will lose thier *** if they kill someone.

I believe the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society have established standards for accreditation that make sense; they are the medical professionals best able to set these standards because they know what the risks are. If I were able to do the physical activities necessary to access HBO, I would not consider a chamber that wasn't so accredited.

I will talk about cost v profit for chanber operators and about cost v benefit for the consume, and lots of other stuff, on my upcoming HBO post, but I wanted to ease any potential fears of anyone living near a free-standing (non-hospital) chamber that they don't need to fear poisonous clouds of oxygen, and if people started showing serious problems following HBO at whatever current staff levels exist, we would have at least heard about it...Vic

So are you saying you are for it or against it??