Autism has traditionally been considered a genetic condition that affects the brain, but this is starting to change.Doctors and scientific researchers are now looking at autism in a much wider context by considering the role of both inflammation and the immune system in relation to autism symptoms.This means that many people are now describing autism as a condition that affects the entire body, as well as the brain, and are beginning to suspect that although genetics play a role, other factors, like the environment, contribute to it as well.Now, for the first time, autism is starting to look like a condition that, in many cases, may be successfully treated.
Recently a study showed that many of the symptoms of autism were relieved with high-pressure oxygen treatment, also known as hyperbaric oxygen treatment.Hyperbaric chambers are approved by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society for treatment of several injuries and infections, including an air or gas embolism, carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness, crush injuries, and bone infections.There are three main types of hyperbaric treatment options:soft chambers, hard chambers and home-use/portable low-pressure chambers.The difference in these chambers is the amount of pressure they can achieve, with hard chambers delivering the highest pressure and portable chambers delivering the lowest.Soft chambers were the ones documented for treating children with autism, though some parents of autistic children opt to use portable ones at home.
The hyperbaric oxygen treatment involves the child lying in a pressurized chamber that resembles a futuristic space capsule.It has clear plastic walls so your child is able to see you and everything going on him.Additionally, in most chamber models you are able to talk to your child as well.Each treatment generally lasts about an hour.During this time your child will be receiving “hyperbaric oxygen.” This is regular oxygen, just delivered at a higher pressure than normal.Don’t worry though as this is a painless procedure.The chamber is pressurized slowly, allowing your child’s body to adjust.However, just like driving through the mountains, your child’s ear might need to “pop” in order to adjust to the higher pressure.To help, encourage your child to yawn, swallow or “’blow their nose” to relieve some of this pressure.
While lying in the pressurized chamber, your child may not feel any different, but he/she is breathing in double the amount of oxygen.Breathing in high levels of oxygen in such an atmosphere gives your child 10 times the regular amount of oxygen.This extra oxygen immediately fills the red blood cells and within a few minutes builds up oxygen levels in the body tissues far above normal.This action has been scientifically proven to stimulate healing.It is thought that the increased amounts of oxygen caused by hyperbaric treatment may help increase blood flow through an autistic child’s brain, as well as decrease inflammation in the brain and gastrointestinal system.
In one recent clinical study of hyperbaric oxygen treatment, 62 children between 2 and 7 years old with autism received 40, 1-hour treatment sessions with either hyperbaric oxygen or slightly pressurized room air (that has much lower oxygen levels).The study showed that the children who received hyperbaric oxygen, on the whole, showed dramatic improvements in functioning, social interaction, sensory/cognitive awareness, receptive language and eye contact compared to the control group autistic children whose treatment was slightly pressurized room air.It is not just the pressurization that is important for this to work or just the higher oxygen levels.The combination of pressurization and higher oxygen levels seem to be what is needed to help the autistic children.
Despite these positive results, it is important to realize that hyperbaric treatment for autism has not been approved by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, European Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.However, there are clinics that offer it for this purpose and it is effective for some autistic patients.Also be aware that this sort of treatment can be very expensive.Recent studies have shown that 40 treatment sessions may be necessary to see results, and sessions generally average around $120 to $150 per treatment, although prices up to $850 per session have been reported.Hence, some parents opt to use a home-use hyperbaric chamber since it often works out much cheaper in the long run.Do not be discouraged by the price tag though, hyperbaric treatment is definitely worth pursuing as treatment for a child with autism, especially if no other treatments thus far have helped.
Rossignol DA and Rossignol LW. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may improve symptoms in autistic children. Medical Hypotheses. 2006;67:216-228. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16554123
Rossignol DA. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy might improve certain pathophysiological findings in autism. Medical Hypotheses. 2007;68(6):1208-1227. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17141962
Rossignol DA, Rossignol LW, James SJ, Melnyk S, and Mumper E. The effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on oxidative stress, inflammation, and symptoms in children with autism: an open-label pilot study. BMC Pediatrics. 2007;7(1):36. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18005455
Rossignol DA, Rossignol LW, Smith S, Schneider C, Logerquist S, Usman A, Neubrander J, Madren EM, Hintz G, Grushkin B, and Mumper EA. Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. BMC Pediatrics. 2009;9:21-36. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19284641
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