Oxygen therapy can reverse brain damage even years after stroke!

According to an Israeli study, brain damage caused by a stroke, traumatic injury or metabolic disorder can be reversed with high levels of oxygen even years after the event.

Shai Efrati of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and colleague Eshel Ben-Jacob, professor of physics and astronomy, recruited post-stroke patients for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)– sessions in high pressure chambers that contain oxygen-rich air – which increases oxygen levels in the body tenfold. Analysis of brain imaging showed significantly increased neuronal (brain cell) activity after a two-month period of HBOT treatment, compared to patients who did not undergo treatment, says Efrati, the journal Public Library of Science ONE reports.