Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by memory loss, delayed thinking and reasoning, and changes in personality and behavior. The disease is taking a heavy toll on an increasing number of affected families and on society as a whole. New research confirms that local brain hypoxia not only reduces the immune system’s defenses against Alzheimer’s disease, but also is involved in the entire process of Alzheimer’s disease, so anti-hypoxia could fundamentally help improve the condition.
Hyperbaric oxygen Therapy may become one of the most promising treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, which can block the transformation of amputative mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease, delay the progression of the disease, and improve the cognitive function of patients. Protect memory, care for Alzheimer’s disease, and help with hyperbaric oxygen therapy!
Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, mainly characterized by progressive cognitive dysfunction and behavioral impairment. It occurs frequently in the elderly population. Out of humanistic concern, different countries and regions have given this disease a number of temperature names: in Japan renamed cognitive disease, Taiwan is called senile dementia, Hong Kong said cognitive disorder, European and American countries over 80 years old alzheimer’s disease is called directional disorder.
Despite the efforts of neurobiologists and medical experts all over the world, medicine has still not fully explained the pathogenic factors and pathogenesis of the disease, nor has it been able to develop a cure for the disease drugs and effective treatment. Existing clinical treatment drugs can only play a role in relieving symptoms, the newly approved new drugs not only do not have the expected efficacy, but also have a certain degree of side effects. For this reason, Alzheimer’s disease is a unique incurable disease, regarded as a “dead corner” of medicine. What’s more, for families with the disease, in addition to the high medical expenses, but also to invest in the long care, physical and mental exhaustion, mental exhaustion, often in a dilemma.
-But a new study suggests that giving oxygen to patients in hyperbaric chamber may delay or even reverse Alzheimer’s disease.
In a world first, Israeli researchers have found that elderly patients with “mild cognitive impairment” – a precursor to dementia – improved memory and brain function after routine 90-minute treatment in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. The change in pressure allows more oxygen to dissolve into the tissue, similar to a state known for regenerative repair.
Another animal study showed that oxygen therapy helped remove sticky amyloid plaques in the brain that block cell communication, a major manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease.The team believes the treatment works by altering the structure of blood vessels in the brain to allow more blood to be transported.
-Professor Uri Asheri, of tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine, said: “We have shown for the first time that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can reduce or even eliminate amyloid plaques and prevent the emergence of new plaques.”
“Older patients with severe memory loss have increased blood flow to the brain and improved cognitive performance, suggesting that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can reverse a core component of Alzheimer’s disease,” he said.
The findings need to be validated in larger trials and may not be readily available on a large scale, experts said. But they say it could open the door to using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat dementia.
For decades, scientists around the world have struggled to find a drug that can prevent or reverse dementia, creating increasingly complex molecules to try to mitigate the disease’s devastating effects.
However, the answer may be simpler than anyone thought: oxygen
In contrast to medication, hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides pure oxygen through a mask in a pressurized chamber. The high-pressure environment is similar to the hyperbaric oxygen chamber that helps divers recover.
In the new study, six elderly patients were given oxygen in the clinic for 90 minutes, five days a week, for three months. The results showed a 16 to 23 percent increase in blood flow to their brains.
At the same time, their memory test scores improved by 16.5 percent, attention increased by 6 percent and information processing speed increased by 10.3 percent.
Researchers believe that oxygen therapy not only increases the amount of oxygen in the brain, but also changes the structure of blood vessels, increasing their diameter and reducing their wall thickness. Studies have shown that the benefits can last long after treatment ends.
Alzheimer’s charities say further, larger trials are needed to determine whether the treatment works, but treatments that already prevent dementia may end up being the most effective.
Dr Susan Kohlhaas, director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Many alzheimer’s treatments currently being trialled use drugs that directly target the disease’s signature proteins, but it’s important that we continue to explore a wide range of potential treatments.
The Israeli study is part of a larger research program aimed at reversing aging and related diseases. The team says they will carry out more trials soon.
Now, this research offers a tantalizing glimmer of hope for an Alzheimer’s treatment, and the answer may come from an unlikely source: the oxygen we breathe!