{Hyperbaric} Oxygen therapy benefit in autism (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

A decompression chamber may help children with autism, say researchers.

After 40 hours of hyperbaric treatment autistic children showed significant improvements in social interaction and eye contact compared with controls.

The BMC Pediatrics study could not show if the results were long-lasting but should prompt further investigation of the treatment, the US team said.

One theory is that oxygen can help reduce inflammation and improve flow of oxygen to brain tissue.

Hyperbaric treatment - effectively giving high concentrations of oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure - has been shown to have some benefit in other neurological conditions such as foetal alcohol syndrome and cerebral palsy.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7940149.stm

[cutlassmama]

1. that is awesome. My question now is how long will it take

for insurance companies to deem this "not experimental" and actually pay for it?

[Celebration]

2. "findings would be quite controversial"

Interesting background information............

Study leader, Dr Dan Rossignol from the International Child Development Resource Centre, in Florida, said the use of hyperbaric therapy for autism has been gaining popularity in the US where parents can buy their own hyperbaric chamber if they have a spare $14-17,000.

He said the findings would be quite controversial and he too was initially very sceptical of the idea but was prompted to do more research after the treatment showed benefits for his two sons who have autism.

"We're certainly not talking about a cure, we're talking about improvements in behaviour, improving certain functions and quality of life.

"The next step is to try to find out which kids do respond, because it's an expensive treatment - it may be that kids with more inflammation respond better.

[hedgehog]

3. Note that there is a premise that autism is associated with inflammation

which may be true, but I wasn't aware that the physical signs of autism had been identified, only the behavioral signs.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. You may wish to read this article

from the Foundation where I work. It includes a good overall view of autism, including possible links with physical signs.

http://www.futurevisionsfoundation.org/autismpage.html

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. I know of a family that is trying this out

They are getting the necessary paperwork together to do it. Should be interesting to find out what happens.

One small quibble I have with the headline--it implies that the entire autism spectrum will benefit from this therapy. In my experience (limited to working in a clinic with autism patients), there are many reasons for the behaviors exhibited. In some cases, it may be brain inflammation, but in others it could be malabsorption of nutrients or an inability to process toxins in the body, and in others an inability to take up B-12 and food allergies and a yeast imbalance. There are far too many factors to ever find a "magic bullet" that will treat everyone diagnosed with autism. The key is to study and treat each patient as an individual.

[hedgehog]

6. That's an interesting thought - autism as a common effect or symptom

with multiple causes. That may explain why so many remedies seem to work on some but not others.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Check out this article

written by my boss:

http://www.futurevisionsfoundation.org/autsimpage.html

to get her take on this.

[Kittycat]

7. My 5yo son has ataxic CP, and I had never heard of this.

It might not be something for him, but it's worth asking. I did a google and found a story on a 15mo boy with similar, but more severe issues compared to my son - and he seemed to have quite a positive response. The part that concerns me, is that as the years have gone by - my son swallows less and less, which can be an issue, and could lead to hearing damage. He does swallow when he's told, but it's just not a natural response for him (he hasn't eaten by mouth since he was 10mo).

[JustCommonSense]

10. autism - why is it on the rise? try mercury from vaccinations

OH but that could not be possible! or could it?

hmmm if it were my child - I would look into this deeply...


As well as methods of removing mercury from the body... as well as fluoride...


Very hard to believe it is possible... for this would shatter out beliefs of a protective government

[NickB79]

11. Mercury was removed from vaccines in 2000

Per Wikipedia:

"In July 1999, following a review of mercury-containing food and drugs, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) asked vaccine makers to remove thiomersal from vaccines as quickly as possible, and it was rapidly phased out of most U.S. and European vaccines."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomersal_controversy

Any more guesses?

[JustCommonSense]

15. No guesses my friend - still in there + many other baddies

http://www.informedchoice.info/cocktail.html

That took me 1 minute to find that link....

I am not here to prove anything...

Just sharing some "shocking" research I have done...

[varkam]

19. Thank you, Dr. Google.

:rofl:

[NickB79]

22. Wow, a list of vaccine ingredients with no supporting data

No information on when the testing was done, what lab did the testing (is this even independent testing, or just a cut-and-paste of an old ingredient list from the 90's?). There are no references anywhere to any supporting information you would expect to find from a reputable study.

In other words, completely unsourced and unusable. Any college professor would flunk you for using such a source in a report.

[varkam]

12. Welcome back!

:hi:

[JustCommonSense]

16. ?

why do you say welcome back?

[varkam]

21. Probably because you've visited here many times before in your past lives.

See you next time! :hi:

[uppityperson]

17. do you think?

[uppityperson]

18. and whoosh. Thanks mods

[varkam]

20. Damn I'm good.

:rofl:

[LeftishBrit]

14. Mercury has been removed from childhood vaccinations...

and autism rates have not fallen. Time to try something else.

[cosmik debris]

13. A good example of bad journalism

"A decompression chamber may help children..."

A hyperbaric chamber is not the same as a decompression chamber.

The journalist that wrote that should do a little background research before writing a story.

Bad journalism makes me doubt anything else the story might have to say.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. How does hyperbaric treatment remove the thimerosal?