Tests in mice
Although the therapy has not yet been tested in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, when scientists tested it on mice with Alzheimer’s they found that it reduced the number of amyloid plaques by up to 30%, reduced it by 18 % of remaining plates and prevented reemergence. of us.
Sticky plaques are believed to impede brain cell communication and are one of the main targets of Alzheimer’s medications.
Mice even began to build better nests after treatment and navigated mazes with more skill.
Professor Uri Ashery, of Sackler University School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, said: “Elderly patients with significant baseline memory loss revealed increased cerebral blood flow and improved performance. cognitive, demonstrating the power of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to reverse the basics. responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. “
In 2020, the same team demonstrated that hyperbaric therapy can reverse the aging process, lengthening telomeres (protective tents at the end of chromosomes) by 20%.
It also reduced senescent or latent cells by up to 37%, allowing new healthy cells to grow.
In addition to cognitive improvements, patients undergoing therapy have also reported improvements in physical abilities, such as increased energy, endurance, and even sexual performance, in men.
Few hospitals can offer hyperbaric treatment
However, there is a drawback. Few hospitals are able to offer hyperbaric treatment and current therapy includes an exhausting schedule of sessions.
“Presumably to be useful, treatment should be continued indefinitely, so patients should be highly motivated and have good transportation connections to the treatment facility,” said Tom Dening, professor of University of Nottingham dementia research.
“If we consider that the number of people with dementia in the UK is close to one million, it is difficult to see how hyperbaric oxygen could be available on this scale.
“In short, it’s an interesting idea but far from meeting the usual criteria to become a standard treatment.”
But it does open a new way to treat the disease. Oxygen-providing drugs are already in development for heart conditions and may also be useful for dementia.
“The paper presents an interesting approach, in particular by reminding us of the importance of vascular factors in the development not only of vascular dementia but also of Alzheimer’s disease,” Professor Dening added.