I noticed there was updated information on a past study concerning exercise and Alzheimer’s. It made me wonder if anything had been done using a decompression chamber.
I asked if there were any hyperbaric studies done on mice. When I was attending diving school in Houston long ago we used to try to give mice (rats) the bends. The only real sign we were successful was the Rat would turn several times, scratch the base of its tail but other than that, nothing. I was wondering if a mouse with an alzheimers brain could be treated similar to a human using hyperbaric treatments. I was a Commercial Saturation Diver for 23 years and a Nationally Certified Paramedic since 95. I was responsible for running treatments on divers from time to time with the bends. CNS and Pain only with and without O2.
Has any Alz. patients been treated with pressure and O2 and if so, what about in saturation? It wouldn’t have to be deep. Maybe 6 to 8 atmospheres. My longest Sat. Dive was 615’ for 6 weeks. I wonder how a sick Alz brain would react to several weeks at 200’ to 275’ deep with the Partial Pressure of Oxygen as high as possible without putting the mouse into seizures (Oxygen Toxicity)?
I was just curious if anything has been done in that area.
I was lucky enough to receive a reply from Nozomi Nishimura.
There’s one study in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. I’ve attached it here. It does show some interesting results with reduction in inflammatory markers and memory assays. However, the study is limited by small numbers of animals and some methodological complications, so this would need to be replicated before any conclusions could be made.
There are also a few very small studies in humans. I think one difficulty is that it is difficult for the patients to tolerate being in the hyperbaric setup.
Good questions!
Well I’ve done a bit of research and I’ve learns there are hundreds of companies here in the US that treat different ailments and diseases including Alzheimer’s with pressure. They use various size chambers with oxygen. The question I asked was if anyone had tried treating a patient at depth for extended periods of times. In the diving world it’s call Saturation.
I made no less than 6 inquries to various facilities around the world and no one has returned my calls or emails. I’m not totally crazy here guys! I’m aware of the physiological dangers as well as the logistical hurdles but I was hoping someone may have actually made the leap and tried to treat someone at depth for extended periods of time or who might at least be in interested in trying. I hate saying “all ya gota do” but all you need is a facility with a couple med-locks, restroom plumbed to dispose of waste, beds, TV to pass the time and bunks. Of course you would also need various environmental control equipment with scrubbers. There are system out there that are plumbed and ready.
I was hoping someone would show some interest or even get back with me so I could try to introduce them to Sat. System owners and operators. I think the majority of the universities who have hyperbaric system don’t have the ability to treat patients longer than a coulpe hours. What if those universities were able to get in touch with someone who had a full blown Saturation System they could use? There are certified systems with current inspections just sitting there waiting for someone to use. The way I look at it is a little more knowledge can only help.
So awesome @AWC that you’re pursuing this!! All I can say is… don’t give up I am part of a community of hackers myself (the good kind - the ones who hack technology!), and it’s amazing how much hobbyists and technerds can do in just a few hours with things they already have access to, compared to “professional” scientists who are struggling for years to find the right equipment (or find time to build it, or find inspiration to think outside the box) to do the experiments they want.
One time during Science Hack Day Vilnius hackathon (that I organized, together with my friends at our hackerspace), a group of school kids mentored by one out-of-the-box-thinking scientist and one crafty engineer built a device that measures plant electric signals (very similar those in our nervous system) in just a few hours! When the engineers/scientists at the university couldn’t do that for years.
But the biggest problem here, I think, is getting through to them. Similarly as it is with citizen science - “professional” scientists just assume “simple” people can’t come up with things like that, or that everything they build / generate / do is good enough for “hobby” purposes but not science. That is simply not true, and is due to the lack of knowledge, as you say. But that narrow mindedness is slowly going away I think! With examples from citizen science, hacker communities especially.
Another problem is that scientists are notorious for slow replies!!! So you might still hear back from them!
Overall, I think you should not give up until someone responds !!
I am part of a community of hackers myself (the good kind - the ones who hack technology!), and it’s amazing how much hobbyists and technerds can do in just a few hours with things they already have access to, compared to “professional” scientists who are struggling for years to find the right equipment (or find time to build it, or find inspiration to think outside the box) to do the experiments they want.