For
people with diabetes oxygen therapy
is the best health care option. It can be a limb
and lifesaving solution.
The
diabetes
risk
Prolonged high levels of sugar in the blood will cause changes on a
cellular level that will affect all organs in the body. In diabetes
blood becomes thicker with higher affinity to clot and stick deposits
to the wall of blood vessels, making them narrower and less flexible.
Poor blood
circulation in the fine blood vessels supplying oxygen called
micro-circulation will close down,
shutting the supply of blood and oxygen to the surrounding tissue. This
is why diabetic wounds take longer to heal; why kidneys fail; why the
retina shuts down; why the risk of stroke and heart attack is increased
in diabetics.
The
risk can be assessed with new non-invasive technology that can measure
the level of oxygen and blood flow in the microcirculation
(micro-circulation
assessment).
If you are at risk of
developing diabetes or currently living with it, you need to pay close
attention to your circulation and how well it delivers oxygen.
Oxygen deficiency is typically caused
by poor microcirculation. Lack of oxygen is
the basis
for serious illnesses where tissue and organs start to break down.
Preventive oxygen
therapy
Preserving healthy microcirculation of which all body organs
depend is the most important thing in diabetes in addition to good
control of blood glucose and adequate daily activity.
Role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in diabetes preventive care is in
re-oxygenating
starved tissue, regulating blood sugar level and promoting growth of
blood vessels and nerve endings. It
improves bone density and the quality of blood and acts as a blood
thinner with more compliant red blood cells. This enables the blood to
perfuse finer capillaries where the most effective transfer of oxygen
takes place. This therapy can both reduce the risk of blood clotting
and thrombosis associated with diabetes and stroke as well as heighten
metabolism and tissue perfusion to meet an increased demand for oxygen
during activity or injury/illness.
Hyperbaric
oxygen therapy has also shown to improve the lung function for better
oxygen extraction and delivery. Benefit is also improved heart pumping
function and immune system response.
Breakthru study by Dr. Stephen Thom (2005) showed that hyperbaric
oxygen facilitates release
stem
cells from bone marrow. Those cells are very important in
repair and rejuvenation in our body. (read more:
ref
)
With
hyperbaric oxygen therapy a staggering 70 to 90 percent of primary
amputations associated with diabetes can be prevented, post heart and
brain stroke recovery sped up and recurrences reduced!
Early warning signs
Poor
micro-circulation deprives organs of needed oxygen and can cause them
to malfunction. Left undetected and uncontrolled this will lead to
damage of nerve endings with symptoms like pain in feet or hands and
numbness or “pins and needles”.
Many people with diabetes have
warning symptoms for years before more serious conditions occur like
leg ulcers and non-healing wounds.
More than half of diabetic
leg ulcers end up with amputation. These can in most cases
be
prevented with early oxygen treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen
therapy
is effectively preventing devastating secondary complications such as:
chronic wounds, amputations, blindness, kidney failure, heart attack
and stroke.
