The SWMSTC

Information on Oxygen Therapy

Oxygen is a necessity of life and is crucial to every tissue within the body and any injuries to those tissues will necessitate oxygen for healing. Ongoing research at the University of Dundee indicates that, in the inflammation that is typical of MS, the conveying of oxygen is severely limited by tissue swelling. It has been shown that, despite the blood flow increasing many times, there may be a severe lack of oxygen in the affected area so that, just when oxygen is needed most, it cannot reach the tissue in sufficient quantity.
Oxygen treatment refers to breathing a high level of oxygen for a short time to correct a lack of oxygen in the tissues of the body. To raise the level of oxygen in damaged tissues pure (100%) oxygen can be breathed with a tight fitting mask, but because oxygen is poorly soluble in blood it is also necessary to use a higher pressure. Individuals receiving oxygen treatment therefore need to sit in a pressure chamber, known as a barochamber. These are rooms built of steel or concrete which accommodate between one and 12 people (ours accommodates 6 people). Barochambers are pressurised up to twice normal atmospheric pressure. The pressure inside is increased by using compressed air, and oxygen is provided by a built-in breathing system. This is exactly the same technology used in pressurised commercial aircraft. Oxygen treatment in a MS Therapy Centre is ‘self help’ which simply means that the person with MS takes the decision to sit in a chamber and to breathe the oxygen. The oxygen treatment is administered by trained operators.
This form of therapy is now being widely utilised throughout the world not only in the treatment of MS but many other conditions. It is widely used in countries such as USA, Europe, Japan, Russia, Australia and China. In these countries it is generally used to treat carbon monoxide poisoning and injury and wound healing, and increasingly for stroke and along with MS other neurological conditions.

Breathing oxygen under pressure causes the dilated and leaky blood vessels in MS to constrict back to normal size and reduces the swelling, due to fluid gathering, which can lead to cells dying. Paradoxically, at the same time, more oxygen is delivered to the bloodstream so the net effect is to improve and accelerate the normal healing process. Drugs can also constrict blood vessels but, in doing so, they actually reduce the available amount of oxygen. It is obvious they cannot replace oxygen
The aim of oxygen treatment in MS is thus to minimise the amount of damage being caused, promote rapid healing and limit the scar formation which can prevent nerve function being restored. Clearly this is most appropriate as soon as possible after symptoms become apparent. The main objectives of any useful therapy in the established disease are to limit further damage rather than expect to cure existing scars. Prevention is not only better but more realistic here, than cure, and, while there are many accounts of improvement or stabilisation in the variety of neurological functions by Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) treatment in MS, it has been in bladder function that positive results have been most frequently described by researchers. Measurement of bladder capacity and emptying have shown that oxygen treatment has a distinctly beneficial effect and a two year study at Glasgow demonstrated the importance of maintaining regular HBO treatment to prevent the progressive deterioration in bladder function commonly found with MS. The value of such prevention of irreversible bladder nerve damage is measured not only in terms of comfort and well-being for an MS person, but also in the minimising of the tendency toward chronic bladder infection and the kidney damage which may have long-term consequences

The Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre

Dundee University

MS National Therapy Centres