Chronic Stress & Hyperbaric Therapy

Most people agree with the concept of stress being bad for health.

Many people don't fully understand the degree to which this is true. Stress, whether acute or chronic, can cause a cascade of events inside the body which can damage multiple systems.

STRESS MAKES YOU SICK

Chronic Stress

Ideally,the body is in a balanced state called the parasympathetic response. In this state, all bodily functions are operating evenly and calmly. This is referred to as the "rest and digest" response because the body is prioritizing resting, digestion, reproducton and healing.

When a person perceives a physical or emotional threat,the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) quickly creates a sympathetic response, or "fight or flight" mode. The body prioritizes survival functions over restful ones.Unfortunately,many people are chronically stressed and unable to rebalance back to normal without assistance of some kind. This is called sympathetic dominance and can cause insomnia, digestion issues,autoimmune disease, frequent illness, slow healing,heart disease,cancer,etc.

Hyperbaric Therapy has been studied on patients with sympathetic dominance using heart rate variability (HRV)monitoring. Research has shown that hyperbarics can help calm the ANS and cause the signals from the hypothalamus to change from a sympathetic response to a parasympathetic response.Researchers watch in real time as patients switch from "fight or flight" over to "rest and digest" during a hyperbaric treatment.

On a large scale, research has been done on patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, confirming posi-tive outcomes through hyperbarics, sometimes even full recovery.

Increasing oxygen levels means more food for the cells as well. Mitochondria can produce adequate ATP to correct or replace damaged cells and tissues. Once the brain is able to stop sensing a constant threat, healing may take place everywhere, even in areas the patient doesn't expect: fatigue, muscle or joint pain,dysfunctional immune system and much more.

Acute Biochemical, Cardiovascular,and

Autonomic Response to Hyperbaric (4 atm)

Exposure in Healthy Subjects

Mariusz Kozakiewicz,Joanna Slomko,Katarzyna

Buszko,Wladyslaw Sinkiewicz,Jacek J.

Klawe,Malgorzata Tafil-Klawe,Julia L.NeW-

ton,and Pawel Zalewski

Published May 2018

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of a hyperbaric environment alone on the cardiovascu-lar system by ensuring elimination of factors that may mask the effect on hyperbaria.

When we explored changes in heart rate and blood pressure variability on hyperbaric exposure, we showed a significant reduction in low frequency parameters (largely sympathetic) and increase in high frequency (largely parasympathetic) with an associated shift in sympathovagal balance after hyperbaric exposure.

The LF/HF ratios calculated from all bands of

heart rate variability and blood pressure variability

were elevated in HF component, and thus

sympathovagal balance was decreased in response

to hyperbaric exposure or/and hyperoxia or a

combination of both.