Oxygen in the Body

• Hemoglobin, the part of our red blood cells that holds oxygen, can only carry a limited amount of oxygen.
• We cannot rely exclusively on our red blood cells to deliver oxygen to all of our body tissues in every emergency.
• Red blood cells can only deliver a limited level of oxygen to tissue cells. 
• Injuries, infections and diseases can drop the vital tissue oxygen level and cause swelling that cuts off blood flow.
• This loss of blood flow, called ischemia, cuts off needed oxygen circulation to the affected areas of the body.

With HBOT, Pressure is the Key

• Breathing oxygen at an increased pressure can correct many serious health problems.
• To provide this increased pressure you must be completely inside of a hyperbaric chamber.
• The increased pressure forces oxygen into ischemic tissues. 
• Breathing pure oxygen in such a chamber gives you 10 times the regular amount of oxygen. 
• This type pressure cannot be given with a Bag Chamber or “Mild” hyperbaric treatment; it requires a hard Monoplace hyperbaric chamber that is certified to safely hold the high pressure.

Oxygen Saturation versus Oxygen Tension

• The problem with the use of oxygen involves confusion between oxygen saturation and oxygen tension; the difference is in the amount of oxygen transported by hemoglobin (oxygen saturation) compared to that transported by plasma (oxygen tension).
• Breathing room air, the hemoglobin is near maximum saturation (98%) and the oxygen tension in the plasma is 95 mmHg (millimeters of Mercury is a standard measurement of gas tension). 
• By the time the plasma reaches the body tissues the oxygen tension levels drop to 39 mmHg or less.
• Breathing pure oxygen at 2.5 times atmospheric pressure greatly increases the amount of oxygen in the plasma (oxygen tension). 
• With HBOT, oxygen level reaching tissues can rise upwards of 200 mmHg getting needed oxygen to previously ischemic areas in the body.

Unfounded fears about HBOT

• Some people tell potential patients that HBOT (in a hard, high pressure hyperbaric chamber) is dangerous because of various reasons such as barotrauma and oxygen toxicity. 
• This is done either maliciously, through ignorance or part of a crude marketing strategy. 
• HBOT descents (to treatment depth) and ascents (from treatment depth to the surface) are extremely controlled with a monoplace chamber. 
• Highly trained and qualified technicians control the descents and ascents, communicating with and observing the patient continually during the treatment. 
• Because the treatment depths for most conditions are much shallower than the toxicity limits, oxygen toxicity in a clinical setting is not a concern.
• Oxygen toxicity is more of a problem for scuba divers than patients in a clinic. 
• If the scuba diver experiences an oxygen toxicity seizure under water, drowning is a possibility. 
• There are no residual effects of oxygen convulsions. 
• Pulmonary oxygen toxicity is avoided easily by highly trained and qualified technicians following established protocols.