SPECT scans-HBOT has worked for my son | Autism PDD

What if the O2 and the pressure are not that high?

There are many who do this without harming themselves. Even athletes use it to heal wounds faster.

In Southern California, if you do biomeds. Hbot is high on the list of
therapies to try. I have looked at the information out there. I think again it
is a personal choice. I am leaning towards trying it. I am just trying to get a
handle on the costs. Insurance does not cover it. There are both soft and
Hard chambers.   Information is available on both. The way I look at it, I
already have a wonderful Behavioral Intervention in place (ABA 35 a week)
I do speech. I have my son on a GFCF diet. I have added Biomeds. Our kids
are all different, the way we approach interventions are different. At the end
of the day , I just want to help my child. Just my personal opinion.

Someone posted a video of an autistic woman (funny lady) who said she enjoyed scuba diving.  She found it very calming.  Is the HBOT therapy similar to a dive experience?

[QUOTE=WIMomOf2]

Thank you for the link bullet.  This is the comment that caught my attention:

Here is a link to my blog (if anyone is interested) in which I give updates on how my son is doing with mHBOT.  There are also alot of links on there that will take you to sites explaining this therapy.

http://toyou-myamazingson.blogspot.com/

What is HBOT???Maybe Hyper-beric Oxygen Therapy???  Just my guess, I could be way offthis is what I just found on the subject...

click here

Hope this helps.
Thanks mandyanthony!!My pleasure. 

I'm sorry, but ABSOLUTELY NOT! HBOT is an extremely dangerous procedure.  I am going to link up to an earlier blog post by GTTO in which, in the comments section, someone recommends hyperbaric/HBOT and the reasons against it are given in the comments section.

 http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/?p=419#comments

 I urge you strongly not to either consider, or if already doing so, proceed with the HBOT. This is one time when I cannot sit on the fence with my views.

bullet39283.4906944444

Thank you for the link bullet.  This is the comment that caught my attention:

Swechcha, you sound like a rational and reasonable individual.  Thanks for posting of your success!

My daughter is adopted FROM India, and we suspect a birth injury is behind her ASD symptoms.  I will be now be watching for research results using this technique, of which I had been more skeptical in the past.

Much of the controversy posted here was also informative, so it is a good thread to review.

Thanks again!

I do not want to be dragged into any controversy. For the nth time, my post is purely targeted at parents of kids with known brain injuries, like traumatic brain injury, asphyxia at birth, hemorrhages, birth complications such as seizures and so on. I know nothing at al about any other kind of profile. Also my suggestion is that if a kid has uncontrolled seizures, HBOT is not a good idea. In India, if your kid has seizures, they do not permit HBOT.My kid is on an anticonvulsant that completely controls his seizures. While in the chamber, he has never had a single seizure. All kids with brain injury are at risk for seizures. Even if your kid does not have seizures perhaps you should put him on an anticonvulsant before trying HBOT. That is up to a neurologist to decide.

Here are the spect scans

http://www.picturehosting.com/images/swechcha/beforeandafter 1.jpg

http://www.picturehosting.com/images/swechcha/beforeanafter2 .jpg

http://www.picturehosting.com/images/swechcha/after.jpg

http://www.picturehosting.com/images/swechcha/before.jpg

The orange colours indicate normal areas. Pink areas are mildly abnormal and blue colors are somewhat more seriously affected.One thing to keep in mind is that the later scans are lighter in colour so all the colours are lighter. However you will notice that there is complete healing in the cerebellum area and in the temporal lobes there is a considerable lightening of the pink and blue areas.
maybe an alternative to HBOT one day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlSaXCzLW6wI was severely criticized on some website and some people on this forum were quite critical as well. What I am saying is that it is really really dumb to make general declarations about anything. HBOT is bad, HBOT is good.Biomed is bad, biomed is good. I think parents mostly know what they are doing and what they can afford to do or not afford to do. If I had listened to any number of negative voices, I would not have done all that I did. Today my son is just 2 months behind in speech. Normal on all physical milestones. And perfectly on target for all social milestones. This is in contrast to where we were when he was ten months old.

This is from a previous post

"Hi everybody!

This is in response to a post by Dina, but is really a query for anyone in a situation where their kid has diplegia and autism. Dina wrote to say that there is some sort of like between seizures in diplegia and autism. My son Ateeksh, has a diplegic pattern of involvement and he has had seizures which seem to have stopped in the last couple of months or so. Does this mean he is at risk for autism?

Right now he doesn't laugh too much and doesnt respond to peek-a-boo games by laughing.He understands games but he doesn't find them funny. At 7 months, he's still not babbling though he does vocalize a lot.He's mostly a very serious kid.Also he doesn't really imitate facial expressions although he does sometimes imitate sounds. He cannot stand to be alone and is very fond of people. He strokes their faces and coos at them. His eye contact has been excellent from the very beginning and his social smile came in at around 4 weeks. He also responds to his name practically every time and is starting to understand the term no.Also when you show him stuff, he'll sort of participate. As in if you show him something and say baby what is this, he'll look at it and vocalize.He'll call you if you're not looking at him. He wants to be carried all the time. When he spots people he's fond of, he'll practically dive into their arms if a stranger is carrying him. He is just starting to mistrust new people and he'll get scared and start crying if someone new comes too close.

Does any of this sound like he might be autistic? Is it a certainty that if he has diplegia and  seizures, he'll also have autism?

I request anyone who knows anything about this stuff to please write and tell me, because I need to be mentally prepared.

Thanks in advance.

Swechcha."


What parents should do is get on the net and research like crazy. Don't listen to anecdotes. Don't listen to unnecessary negativism. Look for data and for studies and make your own decisions.

Swechcha.
Hi foxl. Nice to know your daughter is from India. Tuhina is a sweet name. I wish HBOT helped with all kinds of autism. I wish I knew if it does or not. If I had any evidence that it did, I would shout it from the rooftops. As of now, all I know is that HBOT definitely helps with brain injury, but no one can predict the degree of healing. I wish more people would take SPECT scans and put them up for other people to see, so that we would have data instead of anecdotes and I really really wish people would keep their eyes, ears and minds open. Not all treatment is quackery.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now :). I find myself in preaching mode very often nowadays. Hope you and your kid are doing great.

"Hyperbaric O2 is an absolutely certain way to trigger siezures, even in people who have never had a siezure in their life. Enough O2 at a high enough pressure will trigger a siezure with 100% certainty."

I am sorry, but this is crap. Absolute and utter crap.There is an increase in seizure susceptibility for people who are already vulnerable.But in several cases HBOT has reduced seizure incidence. To take that risk or not take that risk, is a call for a parent to take, but this kind of deliberate misinformation should not be permitted.

At 2.0 ATA the incidence of seizures has beeen recorded to be 2.4 seizures per ten thousand treatments. The link to the study is here

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16325684


Yes, HBOT can increase seizure frequency in a kid who already has seizures. There is also an increased risk of seizures if your kid has some sort of previous brain related condition like autism. But this risk is not that high. In the center where I used to take my kid for treatment, I have never seen a case where a kid did not have seizures and developed them during HBOT and I've seen more than 50 kids be treated there for all kinds of things.And these are kids with a really high seizure vulnerability.

As for this barotrauma thing, barotrauma is ear pain caused by the fact that your kids can't clear their ears very well. It's the same kind of thing kids get from flying. It can be tackled quite simply by making sure your kid swallows or sucks during pressure changes. Failing that, a simple ear tube insertion solves the problem, if someone wants to do HBOT in spite of the ear issues.

You have a right to say you don't approve of HBOT for whatever reason, but do not exaggerate and do not misinform.Make a balanced argument, or if you don't know enough, refrain from commenting on the issue. HBOT heals brains in some cases. That is the simple truth.

I cannot stress enough that I am not saying HBOT will cure autism. I don't know if autism can be cured as such.HBOT may help with some symptoms of autism. I truly don't know. But when brain injury hits some areas like the temporal lobe, the cerebellum, the amygdla, the result can look very much like autism and my guess is that HBOT can help in these cases.
Just curious--
How much did you pay for your own personal HBOT chamber, and how can you afford to purchase such an extravagance? 
Are there valid studies showing it to be an effective treatment for autism?  Or should we just take your word for it?
Thanks.
momtoMatthew40123.4634027778Sorry, but testimonials from a place that sells "dives" just aren't what I would call valid studies.
How about PubMed?  Any links to studies published there that show the validity and effectiveness of using HBOT to "recover" a child from autism?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db =pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16554123&query_h l=2&itool=pubmed_docsum

Here is one other article, from my FAVE (and speculative!) journal ...

Unique Identifier	17141962
Authors	Rossignol DA.
Authors Full Name	Rossignol, Daniel A.
Institution	University of Virginia, Department of Family Medicine, P.O. Box 800729, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. dlross7@hotmail.com
Title	Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might improve certain pathophysiological findings in autism.
Source	Medical Hypotheses. 68(6):1208-27, 2007.
Abstract	Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder currently affecting as many as 1 out of 166 children in the United States. Numerous studies of autistic individuals have revealed evidence of cerebral hypoperfusion, neuroinflammation and gastrointestinal inflammation, immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, relative mitochondrial dysfunction, neurotransmitter abnormalities, impaired detoxification of toxins, dysbiosis, and impaired production of porphyrins. Many of these findings have been correlated with core autistic symptoms. For example, cerebral hypoperfusion in autistic children has been correlated with repetitive, self-stimulatory and stereotypical behaviors, and impairments in communication, sensory perception, and social interaction. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) might be able to improve each of these problems in autistic individuals. Specifically, HBOT has been used with clinical success in several cerebral hypoperfusion conditions and can compensate for decreased blood flow by increasing the oxygen content of plasma and body tissues. HBOT has been reported to possess strong anti-inflammatory properties and has been shown to improve immune function. There is evidence that oxidative stress can be reduced with HBOT through the upregulation of antioxidant enzymes. HBOT can also increase the function and production of mitochondria and improve neurotransmitter abnormalities. In addition, HBOT upregulates enzymes that can help with detoxification problems specifically found in autistic children. Dysbiosis is common in autistic children and HBOT can improve this. Impaired production of porphyrins in autistic children might affect the production of heme, and HBOT might help overcome the effects of this problem. Finally, HBOT has been shown to mobilize stem cells from the bone marrow to the systemic circulation. Recent studies in humans have shown that stem cells can enter the brain and form new neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. It is expected that amelioration of these underlying pathophysiological problems through the use of HBOT will lead to improvements in autistic symptoms. Several studies on the use of HBOT in autistic children are currently underway and early results are promising.
Publication Type	Journal Article.

I haven't said anything, but I will. My dd has been involved in an NIH study for Hyperbaric Chambers (hard) for the past month. She needed to complete 20 hours which we finished on Thursday and then she had her end testing done by a local psychologist..ADOS and ADI-R on Friday. There are 20 kids involved in this particular study and only 1/2 are already done. First of all..my dd loves loves loves the chamber and the mask!!! I go in with her and we hang out..shadow puppets, drawing, watching DVD without sound because no electronics in the hard chamber. The NIH recommends 40 hours, so I am going to pay and try to work in 20 more hours. The psychologist couldn't put her finger on the improvement in all the kids. She said it was the unquantifiable stuff...the stuff you can't teach. My dd seems more mature, more "with-it". For many of the kids it enhanced their desire to socialize with other children, but my dd already enjoys other kids.  I have not seen big wow's, but since dd loves it, it has the potential to help her with some expressive language/receptive language skills..I think that it is worth seeing it through to a more logical conclusion. We both have terminal congestion..it is allergies to the guinea pigs I suspect. We did have some trouble clearing our ears in the beginning;however, I started giving both of us decongestants before we went in and used earplanes and then she had no problem clearing (she actually has less problems than me). If you want research..start looking for the results of the NIH studies..I think ours is the last center, so there must be something out there. It isn't ABA because it isn't teaching, it is something else. It isn't a cure for autism, but if it helps with some troubling areas..why not.

Aloha, Renee

Source	Medical Hypotheses. 68(6):1208-27, 2007.

Not to be nit-picky, but some folks would say this is the research equivalent of the vanity press :) - lots of altmed folks publish there. It is indexed, though - give it that much.  How about 'Pediatrics' or something like that?

Medical Hypotheses takes a deliberately different approach to peer review. Most contemporary practice tends to discriminate against radical ideas that conflict with current theory and practice. Medical Hypotheses will publish radical ideas, so long as they are coherent and clearly expressed. Furthermore, traditional peer review can oblige authors to distort their true views to satisfy referees, and so diminish authorial responsibility and accountability. In Medical Hypotheses, the authors' responsibility for the integrity, precision and accuracy of their work is paramount. The editor sees his role as a 'chooser', not a 'changer': choosing to publish what are judged to be the best papers from those submitted.

Papers in Medical Hypotheses take a standard scientific form in terms of style, structure and referencing. The journal therefore constitutes a bridge between cutting-edge theory and the mainstream of medical and scientific communication, which ideas must eventually enter if they are to be critiqued and tested against observations.

Authors are required to pay page charges. Details are given in the Guide for Authors

Again, sorry, but the use of words like "may" and "might" hardly justify the cost and risk of this type of "treatment."
Thanks for the clarification.  I would prefer the use of the word "will" rather than "may" or "might" if I were considering something as drastic as altering my child's blood oxygen content.
'Specially with only one paper, and that from a DAN! doc.  How about someone who hasn't got any financial stake in the matter?  Got any papers like that?

And for swecha---your kid is autistic?  or not? 
HBOT has many valid uses, but if your child was brain injured and not autistic, then isn't that a bit like comparing apples to oranges?
Autism does not = brain injury
Peaches39286.5169907407Well sorry to disappoint you..but there are no "will's" or "definites" in autism.  Not even with ABA which is the only "proven" therapy for Autism.  There are just no guarantees that your child will be a responder...and that is with ALL therapies.I disagree.
There are definites and wills in autism.

Example:
My son will definitely always be autistic.
And I am cool with that.

oh?  You have a machine that lets you look into the future? 

folks - agree to disagree.  Somehow I doubt y'all are going to convert each other.[QUOTE=fred]

Source	Medical Hypotheses. 68(6):1208-27, 2007.

Not to be nit-picky, but some folks would say this is the research equivalent of the vanity press :) - lots of altmed folks publish there. It is indexed, though - give it that much.  How about 'Pediatrics' or something like that?

[/QUOTE]

Fred, NOTHING else.  I went into Medline and those two are ALL THERE IS, to date.

Which was my point in posting, actually ... AND ... of course, ANYTHING named Medical Hypotheses is a highly creative, outer limits kinda journal ... I would not call it VANITY so much as an outlet for speculation.  There is a place for that too.

I used the word "may" because I don't know the future. If you haven't done the therapy..how do you know that it will help????? HBOT has helped her so far, but we haven't done all the recommended hours. ABA doesn't help ALL kids. IF you are sick and take an antibiotic..it MAY help, but what if it the bug is drug resistant or you are allergic to the antibiotic??? I am sorry, but I have never felt unsafe doing HBOT and my dd has had nothing but positive things to say about the experience. I guess that is why you raise your child your way Peaches and I raise my child my way.nene -- it is exciting it worked for you -- and I am looking forward to what gets published![QUOTE=foxl][QUOTE=fred]

Source	Medical Hypotheses. 68(6):1208-27, 2007.

Not to be nit-picky, but some folks would say this is the research equivalent of the vanity press :) - lots of altmed folks publish there. It is indexed, though - give it that much.  How about 'Pediatrics' or something like that?

[/QUOTE]

Fred, NOTHING else.  I went into Medline and those two are ALL THERE IS, to date.

Which was my point in posting, actually ... AND ... of course, ANYTHING named Medical Hypotheses is a highly creative, outer limits kinda journal ... I would not call it VANITY so much as an outlet for speculation.  There is a place for that too.

[/QUOTE]

Absolutely - but...  Do you think alt med. practictioners and special interest groups should be using publication in journals like this to enhance their aura of credibility with the lay public (of which I am a member)?

ERRRhm, Fred, I do not think it DOES enhance their aura of credibility!

But, maybe I have read this stuff for too many years???

I guess now the public has direct access via pubmed, you may be right ... but then, there is a lot else out there that according to MDs I know, does NOT have any direct clinical clinical relevance or applicability ... kind of like how DSM-IV describes autism, and how we parents recognize it?   You get a lot of publications that have nothing to do with what is being done, clinically, and a lot of clinical knowledge, that never gets published.  It is interesting, once you have the interface between clinicians and literature!

beautiful - I never thought of it that way, Linda.  I always thought of it as a place where anything could get published, so that alt.med practioners could claim journal articles supporting their clinical practice :)  [QUOTE=momtoMatthew]

oh?  You have a machine that lets you look into the future? 

[/QUOTE]

Yes.  Are you jealous?  

I have testimonials stating that it REALLY WORKS!
Still working on publishing the paper that says that it "may" or "might" work, but I KNOW that it works for me! 

[QUOTE=fred]beautiful - I never thought of it that way, Linda.  I always thought of it as a place where anything could get published, so that alt.med practioners could claim journal articles supporting their clinical practice :)  [/QUOTE]

It took a clinician to point it out to ME!

Oh yes, I'm absolutely

BTW:  I will keep doing mHBOT with my son, since it definitely does work for him

adios [QUOTE=momtoMatthew]

Oh yes, I'm absolutely  with jealousy! 

BTW:  I will keep doing mHBOT with my son, since it definitely does work for him

adios

[/QUOTE]
Go for it!  Just watch out for those nasty barotraumas and other risks!  Seizures sound kinda scary!
[QUOTE]Serious complications that have been observed during HBOT sessions are damage to the ear (barotrauma), brain (seizures), and lungs (pneumothorax). It must be noted that these complications are an important issue when HBOT is performed without medical supervision, and when very high dosages are used.[/QUOTE]
http://www.hochealth.com/services%20HBOT.htm

well, thanks you guys I was going to start a post about this tonight, but it is all done for me. I have just been wondering about it lately and like everything else on our world it is different for eveyone. well see what i can do.....

This looks like it is turning into roller derby.swechcha, how did you decide your baby is at risk of autism?I have to apologize. I tried to move this entire topic to Alternative Treatments but managed to only move the first two posts -- each to two different locations!  Sorry. I'm just learning to be a mod. I have a question in to the admin about how to undo it.  Hopefully, this entire topic will eventually appear under HBOT in Alternative Treatments.

Dear Sweecha

I hv 5 year old son with autism,in india which city is providing HBOT for child with autism other than Delhi?Pls let me know want to do it for my son..

 

 

thanks

 

sangeeta

 

I have to jump in here.  About 2 years ago we decided to research HBOT.  Then along with our pediatrician and psychiarist (and I am also a BCBA) we read the research and discussed and debated for a year regarding whether or not to do it.  We elected to go ahead and do it under the supervision of a doctor and we purchased the home unit (,000).  We also had a researcher from a local university who works with kiddos with autism do pre and post testing of my son.  IN EVERY ASSESSMENT THAT WAS DONE HE GAINED BETWEEN 6 MONTHS AND 2 YEARS!!!!  We are in the process of completing the data analysis to have the study published.  My son has made AMAZING gains in speech and processing (in particular).  We did not go into it lightly, and did an incredible amount of research before starting.  We do feel we made the best choice for our son and he is making gains because of it.

WOW there is no way we could afford that. I would be very curious though if it would be good for my sons. I have always suspected we are dealing with asphyxia at birth, prematurity and a traumatic birth, maybe something akin to mini strokes on the brain at birth, not so much autism. No brain damage showed up on the MRI though. Hum, very interesting though. Sounds like it really helped some, but that is a lot of money for no guarantees.

We couldn't either however dh has an uncle who is a millionaire (really) and he just turned 100.  He has no family besides us and believes in things like HBOT as it is more natural of a treatment in his view....he bought it for us.  We are very blessed!Oh I am so happy that you are having success...does your rich uncle want to adopt anymore  families
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