Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Lyme Disease

The purpose of this paper is to determine if the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The spirochete B. Burgdorferi is a microaerophilic organism carried by the Deer tick (Ixodid) and transmitted to humans and other mammals by its bite. A bull’s-eye rash or erythema migrans is often the first sign of an infection.

Joint and muscle pain, a sore throat, a high temperature, swollen glands, and mental “fogginess” are all possible symptoms.
If not diagnosed in the first 1 or 2 months, the sickness may become a chronic infection. After then, it appears to be encapsulated by fibroblasts and other cells, where it is presumably safe from the effects of any of the test antibiotics. Diagnosis is challenging in the absence of serological evidence, and successful treatment requires the skills of a highly trained surgeon familiar with the disease.

Rationale:

It was proved by Austin the spirochete couldn’t live if transmitt in air to another host, but would survive if transfer in a gas mix of 4% oxygen. This demonstrated the spirochete could not survive in an oxygen partial pressure of 160-mm Hg ( the partial pressure of oxygen in air ), but could survive in a partial pressure of 30-mm Hg ( which is the partial pressure of 4% oxygen at 1 atmosphere, comprehensive ( ground level pressure )., it appears clear a lethal oxygen level for the spirochete lies between thirty mm Hg, and 160 mm Hg. It is also well known that whereas the partial pressure of oxygen is about 160 mm Hg when trigger, it is generally about 30-35 mm Hg at the tissue level. Therefore, it wouldn’t be envisage that respiring air at ground level would cause any damage to the spirochete.

But if the patient were put in a hyperbaric chamber with the pressure raise to two, the situation would be different.

36 atmospheres, comprehensive ( ata ), the total barometric pressure would be 1794 mm Hg. After this, the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood would increase to 1794 mm Hg if the patient were to breathe pure oxygen. Due to the presence of carbon dioxide and water vapour in the alveoli, the oxygen partial pressure in the arterial blood would be around 1700 mm Hg, but in the tissue it would be between 200 and 300 mm Hg. Since it is assume that oxygen routinely diffuses throughout all cells of the body, this is obviously above deadly oxygen levels for the spirochete. Patients can tolerate this level of oxygen partial pressure for ninety minutes or more in a hyperbaric chamber, where it can be safely achieve.

Protocol:

The college’s ethics committee OK’d this study.

Clinical consultants well-versed in the management of Lyme disease referred potential participants. Western blot serology showing the expected bands was positive in all cases, allowing a diagnosis of this disease in accordance with CDC criteria. All of them had been unsuccessfully treat with intravenous antibiotics, and several of them were getting worse even while still taking antibiotics.

In accordance with the Belmont Report, all participants received a lecture about the dangers associated with hyperbaric chamber use and signed a waiver and release before participating. After being compressed to 2.36 ata in the multiplace chamber, a plastic helmet was put on their heads and pure oxygen chamber near me was given. The individual was expose to a flow pattern of oxygen that provide 100% oxygen with each breath. Subjects were able to talk to the chamber attendant and to each other. The average hyperbaric oxygen therapy session lasted 60 minutes, and patients received treatments twice daily for five days before getting a two-day break.

Beginning with a minimum of ten sessions and going up to thirty, many various series were trie. Three months and 145 sessions later, we have one satisfied patient.

Results:

There were 91 patients who completed all 1,995 hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions, however 9 of them were eventually rule out due to the existence of a confounding medical condition. Included in this group of illnesses were babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, hepatitis C, and a variety of neurological problems that had previously gone undetected. All three patients demonstrate improvement of Lyme symptoms with hyperbaric oxygen delivery. However two were eliminated due to the development of septicemia from IV catheters and one due to her present breast cancer. The subjects were analyse using a condensed version of the questionnaire used in the gold standard test used by many Lyme specialists.

The test was create so that a score of 0 indicated no symptoms and a score of 10 indicate severe ones. It appears that about 84.8% of those who were treat showed significant improvement. As measure by a decrease or eradication of symptoms, while further statistical analysis is still being conduct. Only 12 people (13.1%) said they saw no advantage. The participants averaged 49.27 out of 270 after treatment compared to 114.12 before. A paired t-test showed that a difference of 64.85 points was statistically significant (p0.0001).

After the series of treatments were complete, there was less variation in the patients’ scores. Before treatment, the scores’ standard deviation was 56.00, but afterward it dropped to 44.14. With a Fisher’s F-test, the significance level of this decline is 0.057. In addition, a total of 58% of respondents saw a decrease in their score of 41.86 or more points. Except for one, all 91 people who had hyperbaric oxygen therapy uk ended up with the dismal Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction.