Dr. Efrati and his colleagues had half the study
participants undergo hyperbaric oxygen treatment for two hours daily five times
a week for a total of forty sessions. The second control group received no
treatment for two months, followed by two months of hyperbaric treatments. The
researchers found that the patients who received hyperbaric treatment in the
first two months showed remarkable clinical improvements including increased
sensation, language skills, and movement ability—even if it had been years since
the initial damage. Neuroimaging analyses also showed significant increased
neural activity in damaged brain areas. The results were published in PLoS ONE earlier
this year.
“After
a brain injury, you’ll see several types of brain damage. The most severe is
necrosis. That tissue is dead and nothing can be done. But surrounding that
necrotic tissue, you see areas that still have some metabolic function. Those
areas can be improved,” says Efrati. He argues that those cells are
compromised, with enough metabolic activity to stay alive but not enough to
fire and promote action potentials. The extra oxygen delivered by hyperbaric
treatment, over time, helps those cells heal and regain normal metabolic
function and firing potential.
Efrati and his team are currently running two similar trials on people with traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s.
Efrati and his team are currently running two similar trials on people with traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s.
Dr. Shai Efrati is the
director of the [Sagol center for hyperbaric medicine and research](http://www.assafh.org/sites/en/Pages/Hyperbaric-Chamber-New.aspx)
at Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center in Israel. The center, under Dr. Efrati
management, has become the largest most occupied hyperbaric center worldwide,
currently treating more than 120 patients per day. Dr. Efrati is also the
director of Research & Development of Assaf-Harofeh Medical center,
affiliated to Tel-Aviv University. Taking the two passions/positions together
Dr. Efrati has initiated a research program focusing on the neuroplasticity
(regeneration of brain tissue) of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). In the
first clinical studies it was proved that HBOT can induce neuroplasticity in
post stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury even years after the acute Insult. The
important clinical results gained from the research program have led to
fruitful cooperation including multidiscipline team focusing on regeneration of
injured brain due to early stages of dementia, vascular disease and anoxic
brain damage as well as other "aging" tissues.
