Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a critical post covid option.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is currently being used and studied as a primary treatment for lingering COVID-19 symptoms. It reverses hypoxia, reduces neuro-inflammation and is proven to improve oxygenation of tissue.
You may be aware of the phrase cytokines storm. This is an uncontrolled cytokine release triggered by Covid and is characterized by increases in IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α. It also effects changes in the population of of macrophages. The infected and active stage of COVID-19 causes neuroinflammation and it is believed that this might be prolonged and lead to the symptoms of long Covid.
Micro-infarcts and neuroinflammation are significant causes of localized hypoxia and neurological hypoxia.
Why is hypoxia bad?
A localized hypoxia causes cell stress and ultimately sell death wherever it occurs because it starves tissue of the oxygen it needs to survive and function. This can be very specific causing damage to specific organs, leading to a wide variety of symptoms depending on the organ affected, it can also affect multiple organs and is particularly worrying it it affects the brain.
Brain hypoxia is normally thought of in terms of drowning, suffocating or in cardiac arrest, however brain fog and loss of memory has been cited as a common post covid symptom and this could be the result of brain hypoxia.
An effective option to reverse hypoxia, reduce neuroinflammation and induce neuroplasticity is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).
HBOT includes the inhalation of 100% oxygen at pressures exceeding 1 atmosphere absolute, this enhances the amount of oxygen dissolved into body tissue. During HBOT, the arterial O2 tension typically exceeds 2000 mmHg, and levels of 200-400 mmHg occur in tissues.