How does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy HBOT) help Lyme Disease?
Thousands of people are affected by Lyme disease throughout the world. Often it can be misdiagnosed as other illnesses, therefore the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say the number of sufferers may be 5 to 10 times more than the estimated number. It is commonly called the great mimicker.
The symptoms of Lyme disease are varied which include fever, flu symptoms, headaches, fatigue and muscle and joint pain. Lyme disease is often, but not always, accompanied by a rash that looks like a bull’s-eye at the site of a tick bite. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that is usually transmitted via the bite of an infected tick, which carry the bacterium in their stomachs. It’s interesting to note that this is a relatively new disease, having only been formally recognized in 1975, based on the original case that occurred in Lyme, CT. While Lyme infections in the U.S. are most common in the northeast, especially in New York, where over half of all tick are thought to carry the bacteria-they have reported in all 50 states, as well as numerous other countries around the world.
Late-disseminated Lyme causes a variety of problems like immune-system dysfunction, nervous system disorders, cognitive disorders, chronic sleep troubles, cardiac problems and even personality and mood swings. While late disseminated Lyme is not fatal, symptoms can be so disabling that many patients become bed-bound.
The late Dr. William Fife of Texas A&M University pioneered groundbreaking research into using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) to treat Lyme disease. Dr. Fife saw dramatic improvements in the total health of Lyme patients. In most cases, patients were able to stop using antibiotics and other medications. HBOT promotes healing by increasing the oxygen concentration in the body to 15-20 times greater than normal at the cellular level. Many body functions are restored and the immune system receives a massive boost.
Benefits of HBOT for Lyme disease include; increased energy, relief from pain, restored cognitive function, allows organs and glands to normalize and forces out toxins and other impurities.