FROM THE DESK OF DR. ZAYD RATANSI, ND
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Attention: Covid-19 Information: Originally prepared for Professional Athletes and Trainers
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COVID-19 — Background Information
Infectious diseases — Viruses have been a continual threat to humans since the beginning of our understanding of these pathogens, causing outbreak after outbreak.
The latest development is called COVID-19 and has impacted the whole world, putting certain regions in the world into a precarious state.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
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Going back to 1662, FROM THE DESK OF DR. ZAYD RATANSI, ND
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Attention: Covid-19 Information: Originally prepared for Professional Athletes and Trainers
COVID-19 — Background Information
Infectious diseases — Viruses have been a continual threat to humans since the beginning of our understanding of these pathogens, causing outbreak after outbreak.
​
The latest development is called COVID-19 and has impacted the whole world, putting certain regions in the world into a precarious state.
​
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Going back to 1662, Hyperbaric oxygen has had a long history for its health benefits, but it was not until 1918 where Dr. Orval Cunningham of Kansas City was able to publish his data on its influence on one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, the Spanish Flu.
It all started with a dying patient who improved when Dr. Cunningham administered a simple, one- hour hyperbaric session. From there, he helped improve many lives by giving them access to this service.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides a surplus of extra oxygen to support the body.
The simple physiology of oxygen is that ALL cells in the human body require, both, an extremely high and continuous supply of, oxygen for basic functioning.
This is an absolute, and it’s the reason that you need to breathe about 14 times per minute and your heart beats an average of 70 times per minute — all to deliver this vital nutrient to these highly demanding cells.
If this process is disrupted for more than 5 minutes, it would cause grave consequences for all body organs and organ systems, and even more so for the immune system.
Our Immune Systems
The immune system requires an even greater demand for oxygen due to its greater utilization of this nutrient — the immune system is comprised of white blood cells.
These cells are the body’s defense and kill bacteria, viruses, and invading organisms. They are oxygen-dependent and the more oxygen they have, the greater their killing activity can be.
Since hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides extraordinarily high (and continuous) levels of extra oxygen into the body, one of the key organ systems to benefit from this procedure is the immune system.
In fact, hyperbaric oxygen is used in hospitals for major life-threatening conditions including flesh-eating disease and bone infections.
Please note that these hospital hyperbaric procedures are at very high dosages and should not be confused with Home chambers, which are tightly regulated to lower dosages, and hence referred to as mild hyperbaric therapy (m-HBT).
Mild Hyperbaric Therapy (m-HBT)
Mild Hyperbaric therapy has made its way to top tier athletes in all fields of their respective sports.
Names include Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Jordan Spieth, Richard Sherman, Kirk Cousins, and many more. Major league teams are also making this service available within their training room facilities.
The key focus they have is to help them gain a competitive advantage in performance and recovery. By making slight adjustments to their protocol, this therapy could be used to help maximize the immune system benefits from this procedure.
Around 20 years ago, Dr. Gunnar Heuser MD, was one of the first physicians to publish a study utilizing mild hyperbaric therapy as an immune modulator.
In this study, he also used brain imaging techniques (SPECT imagining) to demonstrate improvement in brain functioning, and also documented an overall increase in attention and reaction time. This was observed in just 10 sessions of m-HBT.
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Though hyperbaric therapy cannot protect someone from being exposed to the virus, the extra oxygenation that is provided by adding regular hyperbaric therapy, may give an extra edge for the immune system to ward off the infection and/or limit the severity of the infection.
For athletes who are currently utilising the benefits of hyperbaric therapy, by slightly adjusting the timing and frequency of hyperbaric therapy and delivering this procedure outside of intensive training sessions, there can be a very strong benefit for the immune system.
The good news is that m-HBT is becoming more readily available and should be available within your local community.
The protocol for immune support differs from those that are used for performance and recovery so speak to a qualified provider of hyperbaric therapy for the most appropriate usage of hyperbaric therapy.
Keep in mind, healthy diet and lifestyle support provides a critical base to get the most out of hyperbaric therapy so keep a strong focus on this, at the time of high stress. has had a long history for its health benefits, but it was not until 1918 where Dr. Orval Cunningham of Kansas City was able to publish his data on its influence on one of the most deadliest pandemics in human history, the Spanish Flu.
It all started with a dying patient who improved when Dr. Cunningham administered a simple, one- hour hyperbaric session. From there, he helped improve many lives by giving them access to this service.
About the Author
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Dr. Zayd Ratansi, NDDr. Zayd Ratansi is a licensed Naturopathic Physician with advanced certifications in hyperbaric medicine, bio-oxidative medicine, low level light therapy, chelation therapy and environmental medicine.
He specialises in the treatment of brain injuries and other neurological conditions using hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Dr. Ratansi has worked with hyperbaric therapy for over 18 years and is widely regarded as a world authority on hyperbaric therapy, and more recently targeted hyperbaric therapy.
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He lectures worldwide on the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for neurological conditions and has played a leading role in implementing protocols on the use of hyperbaric therapy in the mainstream medical setting.
His passion is to share scientific information on hyperbaric therapy to give the public greater empowerment to make their own choices on whether or not hyperbaric therapy would be appropriate for them, while also helping to facilitate the safest access to hyperbaric therapy to gain the most therapeutic benefit.
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DISCLAIMER: It is very important that this article is not construed as an article that promotes treating COVID-19 with hyperbaric therapy. Anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or suspected of having this infection, should follow government guidelines (and not seek treatments in a hyperbaric chamber as an alternative). This is purely educational material on the rationale and benefits of using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to support the immune system.
What is Hyperbaric Therapy?
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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment that enhances the body’s natural ability to heal.
By breathing 20% up to 100% oxygen in a soft or hard chamber that is designed for the whole body, the atmospheric pressure can be increased and controlled.
It is used for a wide variety of treatments either for sports recovery, anti-aging, and beauty.
Air and Oxygen (O2)
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Air is a mixture of gases, and the air on Earth contains about 78% nitrogen and about 21% oxygen (argon, carbon dioxide neon, helium, methane, krypton, hydrogen, xenon, and water vapor are in much smaller amounts).
Without Oxygen, we don’t have life.
We breathe in 21% Oxygen on each breath and breathe out approximately 16% Oxygen (this is how we can give CPR to another human being with the Oxygen we exhale).
We are continuously topping up the hemoglobin in the red blood cells with O2.
Under normal circumstances in our day to day living, oxygen is transported throughout the body only by red blood cells.
With Hyperbaric Therapy, oxygen is also dissolved into other areas such as the plasma, the cerebral spinal fluid (the fluid that surrounds the brain and spine), the central nervous system fluids, the lymph system, and the bone.
This process allows the Oxygen to be carried to areas where circulation is diminished or blocked by trauma or inflammation.
In this way, extra oxygen can reach all of the damaged tissues in turn supporting and accelerating the body’s own healing process.
The increased oxygen greatly enhances the ability of white blood cells to kill bacteria, reduces swelling, and allows new blood vessels to grow (angiogenesis) more rapidly into the affected areas.
It is a simple, relaxing, non-invasive, and painless therapy.
The accelerated healing and repair resulting from HBOT are one of the reasons why over 500 American Football players and other athletes have used the therapy as well as celebrities such as Michael Jackson.
The soft, portable chambers fold down and fit in a suitcase which can travel almost anywhere. For instance, the professional baseball player Tim Tebow travels with his personal HBOT. This has all served to further raise the profile of hyperbaric in our 21st Century lifestyle.
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Fitness
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Sports Performance
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Professional sports trainers and coaches around the world are discovering and harnessing the powers of hyperbaric therapy.
Hyperbaric therapy aids in the repair of damaged muscle tissue, and can help injuries to heal faster by enriching the bloodstream with extra Oxygen, leading to more efficient performance.
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British Professional Boxer and Olympic Gold Medalist Nicola Adams OBE using a Hyperbaric Chamber.
Sportsmen and women from fields as diverse as football, basketball, mixed martial arts, and golf are now turning to hyperbaric therapy to give them that additional lift in their game that is vital in today’s competitions.
Over 500 NFL players in the US use Hyperbaric Oxygen to accelerate their healing and return to the field, for example, Joe Namath has been an advocate for many years.
And with the advent of hyperbaric chambers suitable for installation in the home, you too can enjoy those same benefits.
One of the world’s most famous soccer players, Cristiano Ronaldo, injured his knee in the final of the European Championships in the Summer of 2016. He used Hyperbaric Oxygen to accelerate the repair and healing process.
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Accelerated Healing
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When the body is damaged from everyday living, accidents, or sports injuries, oxygen is a vital part of the recovery process.
From cuts and bruises, breaks, and tears to bacterial infection, oxygen leads the body’s natural defenses.
Hyperbaric therapy can significantly speed up the healing process.
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Research is supporting a reduction in the time your body needs to recover from knocks, cuts, and breaks.
Considering buying a Hyperbaric Chamber? If you have a question about Hyperbaric Chambers or Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, get in touch, send us an inquiry or call us.
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Clinical application of HBOT in infections
Currently, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that HBOT offers valuable advantages, either alone or as an adjunct treatment, for patients with infectious diseases. It has been demonstrated that HBOT considerably stimulates the levels of O2 concentration in blood, which is typically very low at normal atmospheric condition but is enough to provide the primary need for normal tissue. This finding shows the basic mechanism behind the administration of HBOT in patients suffering from CO toxicity and acute anemia. During the HBOT procedure, the O2 pressure in arterial blood can increase to 2000 mmHg, and the high blood-to-tissue oxygen pressure gradient increases the tissue O2 pressure to 500 mmHg. This effect is considered to be valuable for the healing of inflammatory and microcirculatory disorders in ischemic circumstances and the compartment syndrome.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332218354829?via%3Dihub
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Considering buying a Hyperbaric Chamber? We will help you select to best suit your budget and need, get in touch.
General Wellbeing and Quality of Life
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Oxygen is an element that is vital to every cell in our bodies.
However, as we age and as our environment becomes more polluted, our bodies are becoming deficient in this essential nutrient.
Unlike other elements, we cannot supplement oxygen in our bodies by taking a pill or even changing our diet.
At normal air pressure, our oxygen-carrying cells (red blood cells) are saturated and therefore cannot carry any more oxygen that may be introduced into our bodies.
During Hyperbaric therapy the body is placed gently under pressure creating an environment where oxygen can dissolve directly into the blood, tissue, and other bodily fluids, thereby increasing oxygen levels in the cells dramatically triggering a far greater production of energy.
This increased production of energy can help support the body’s coping mechanism with the effects of aging, stress, and other conditions that can leave us feeling less than 100%.
Imagine being able to give yourself a lift whenever you’re feeling tired or just ‘under the weather’.
A hyperbaric chamber could be the key to shaking off the rigors and stresses of our 21st-century lifestyle and keeping you, and your entire family, fully energized and on top of your game without the need for additional or synthetic stimulants.
In addition, hyperbaric therapy may support the bodies’ ability to deal with:
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Cellular metabolism
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Immune system
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Bone health
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Mental alertness
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Platelet function
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Circulation
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Inflammation
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Edema
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Beauty
As well as helping our bodies internally, hyperbaric therapy can have extremely positive effects externally, too!
The pressurized circulation of oxygen through the body ensures that every cell receives the necessary dose. And that includes cells in the skin, leading to reduced signs of aging such as wrinkles and skin blemishes.
Importantly, there has been substantial growth in the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen for accelerated healing and repair after plastic surgery or redesign work and skin grafts.
Do you know that radiant glow your skin takes on after exercise? Well, that’s a result of the increased flow of oxygen. Hyperbaric therapy can deliver the same great results, without the need for a workout!
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Treatment of Specific Clinical Conditions
As well as its general benefits to health, fitness, and wellbeing, HBOT is used to treat a number of medical conditions due to its ability to further increase the saturation of oxygen into the body.
Here are 13 FDA approved conditions:
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Air or Gas Embolism
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Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
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Compartment Syndrome/Crush Injury/Other Traumatic Ischemias
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Decompression Sickness (Bends)
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Diabetic and Selected Wounds
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Exceptional Blood Loss (Anemia)
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Gas Gangrene
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Intracranial Abscess
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Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection
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Osteoradionecrosis and Radiation Tissue Damage
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Osteomyelitis (Refractory)
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Skin Grafts and (Compromised) Flaps
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Thermal Burns
Potentially Therapeutic Off-label Uses:- promising research results suggest hyperbaric therapy may be effective in the treatment of other conditions, including:
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Post-traumatic stress disorder
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Fibromyalgia
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Autism
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Multiple sclerosis
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Migraine
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Stroke
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Arthritis
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Chronic Fatigue
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Surgery Preparation & Accelerated Recovery
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Spinal Cord Injuries
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Sports Injuries
The treatment of all these conditions would typically be overseen by medical professionals.
There is no such thing as a ‘silver bullet’ in medicine, no one treatment that cures all conditions.
However, the effectiveness of hyperbaric therapy in assisting the body’s natural defences, coupled with its suitability for patients of all ages, and its non-invasive drug-free nature, make it a powerful tool in many circumstances.
Considering buying a Hyperbaric Chamber? If you have a question about Hyperbaric Chambers or Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, get in touch, send us an inquiry or call us.