Study Finds Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments Mobilize Stem Cells
December 29, 2005 3:00 p.m. EST
Ayinde O. Chase - All Headline News Staff Writer
Philadelphia, PA (AHN) - According to a study researching heart and circulation physiology, a typical course of hyperbaric oxygen treatments increases by eight-fold the number of stem cells circulating in a patient's body, which can aid in the body's self repair.
Stem cells, which are found in human and animal bone marrow, are capable of adapting to be cells in different parts of the body, and are also called progenitor cells that are crucial to injury repair
The movement, or mobilization, of stem cells can be triggered by a variety of stimuli - including pharmaceutical agents and hyperbaric oxygen treatments. However, when a patient is administered drugs they are subjected to a variety of side effects, while hyperbaric oxygen treatments carry a significantly lower risk of such effects.
Stephen Thom, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine says, ``We reproduced the observations from humans in animals in order to identify the mechanism for the hyperbaric oxygen effect."
Thom adds, "This study provides information on the fundamental mechanisms for hyperbaric oxygen and offers a new theoretical therapeutic option for mobilizing stem cells."
Its the researchers hope that the study lends insight into a host of treatments that can be adapted with the oxygen related treatment.