The inhalation of 100% pure oxygen while lying inside a sealed chamber is highly regarded as a healthy and non-invasive treatment for many conditions. However, as with all medical treatments, there are always some risks for some patients. These risks must be considered when engaged in hyperbaric facility planning.
The first and most obvious danger of this form of treatment involves the presence of oxygen containers which would be stored on-site. Canisters of O2 are highly combustible, and have been known to explode. Researching proper storage as well as required licensure allowing it is necessary, as such an accident would likely take out the entire operation and everyone in it.
These chambers are often found in acute care centers along the coast because the treatment has been FDA-approved for the treatment of decompression sickness. This condition happens to divers who come up to the surface too quickly. Success has also been met with the use of this treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning, and the FDA does recommend attempting to treat these patients in a chamber to see if they can get the patient breathing again.
Individuals run the risk of believing the treatment alone will cure them because they feel better. Utilizing an holistic treatment rather than continuing with scheduled chemo or other treatment can have potentially fatal results. There is no proof that these chambers can even treat, let alone cure diabetes, cancer, aging, depression, or autism.
Because the treatment is regarded as fairly benign, and it reportedly does improve the overall health and well-being of the patients who use it, there is always the risk that patients will neglect or completely discontinue their allopathic treatments. While the medical community does agree that even a placebo effect is good medicine if it makes the patient feel better, they also urge their patients to continue treatments such as chemotherapy or dialysis. Failure to keep these appointments, as scheduled, can have fatal results.
There are some health risks associated with this type of oxygen therapy, and patients should be aware of them. Seizures have been reported occurring as a result of high-oxygen saturation. Roughly ten percent of patients experience some form of seizure, so many facilities now require a ten minute period on room air for every hour and a half they spend in the chamber.
A temporary decrease in visual acuity, known as myopia, can develop as a result of this treatment. So far this appears to be only temporary, but it can create a real problem for patients. It takes a period of time for this myopia to return to normal, and such side-effects are the reason doctors will recommend only limited amounts of time within the chamber.
An even more serious side-effect is the potential for permanent damage to the inner ear of patients who spend long spans of time in the chamber on a regular basis. This vertigo can cause any patient to fall, but especially those who are over the age of 65 or have terminal illness. Currently there is no system in place to track the hours of chamber-time a patient receives from various facilities, and there are no laws restricting it either.
The first and most obvious danger of this form of treatment involves the presence of oxygen containers which would be stored on-site. Canisters of O2 are highly combustible, and have been known to explode. Researching proper storage as well as required licensure allowing it is necessary, as such an accident would likely take out the entire operation and everyone in it.
These chambers are often found in acute care centers along the coast because the treatment has been FDA-approved for the treatment of decompression sickness. This condition happens to divers who come up to the surface too quickly. Success has also been met with the use of this treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning, and the FDA does recommend attempting to treat these patients in a chamber to see if they can get the patient breathing again.
Individuals run the risk of believing the treatment alone will cure them because they feel better. Utilizing an holistic treatment rather than continuing with scheduled chemo or other treatment can have potentially fatal results. There is no proof that these chambers can even treat, let alone cure diabetes, cancer, aging, depression, or autism.
Because the treatment is regarded as fairly benign, and it reportedly does improve the overall health and well-being of the patients who use it, there is always the risk that patients will neglect or completely discontinue their allopathic treatments. While the medical community does agree that even a placebo effect is good medicine if it makes the patient feel better, they also urge their patients to continue treatments such as chemotherapy or dialysis. Failure to keep these appointments, as scheduled, can have fatal results.
There are some health risks associated with this type of oxygen therapy, and patients should be aware of them. Seizures have been reported occurring as a result of high-oxygen saturation. Roughly ten percent of patients experience some form of seizure, so many facilities now require a ten minute period on room air for every hour and a half they spend in the chamber.
A temporary decrease in visual acuity, known as myopia, can develop as a result of this treatment. So far this appears to be only temporary, but it can create a real problem for patients. It takes a period of time for this myopia to return to normal, and such side-effects are the reason doctors will recommend only limited amounts of time within the chamber.
An even more serious side-effect is the potential for permanent damage to the inner ear of patients who spend long spans of time in the chamber on a regular basis. This vertigo can cause any patient to fall, but especially those who are over the age of 65 or have terminal illness. Currently there is no system in place to track the hours of chamber-time a patient receives from various facilities, and there are no laws restricting it either.
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