For ten years, the 64-year-old man diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease had experienced slipping mental abilities, a decline that was beginning to accelerate.
“Think of it like a straitjacket that gets tighter and tighter,” said Daniel Tanner, director of educational and social services for the Alzheimer’s Foundation in Arizona.
But for this particular patient, one of 5.7 million Americans who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, the straitjacket is looser following treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
But the case study goes beyond what the patient reported about his symptoms or his performance on tests, like drawing a simple picture of a flower. The study shows visible improvement of his brain itself on PET scans taken before and after the treatment.
The result is images that a third-grader could look at and say: “That patient looks better.”.
The PET scans taken a month after the treatment showed global improvement in brain metabolism of 6.5 percent to 38 percent, according to the study.
“HBOT in this patient may be the first treatment not only to halt but temporarily reverse disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease.
