Mono Sclerosis :: Stop MS in its tracks before it becomes Multiple

Oxygen Therapy

Oxygen is essential to every one of the tissues in the body and that any tissue injury requires oxygen for healing. Recent research in the University of Dundee has shown that, in the inflammation that is typical of MS, the transport 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 therapy, where the normal amount of oxygen in the air is many times exceeded, is now being widely used in medical practice, notably in the USA, Europe, Japan, Russia and China primarily to treat carbon monoxide poisoning and aid the healing of injuries and wounds of different types. It is being used increasingly in neurological diseases such as stroke and in head and spinal core injury.

Its use in Multiple Sclerosis has been controversial, largely because its function and the expectations of its effects have been widely misunderstood.

However, studies have shown that it is beneficial. The process by which damage to the nervous system is caused in MS clearly cannot be prevented by oxygen therapy, but, as already discussed, the body normally heals itself using oxygen from the air - giving additional oxygen extends the body's ability to heal and can limit some of the damage which the disease causes.

Why should this be?

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 is 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 High Dosage Oxygen (HDO) 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 HDO 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.

Oxygen to reduce inflammation.
During an MS attack there is typically substantial inflammation at the location where the lymphocytes are destroying the myelin. There is some indication that myelin could have a tendency to reform after the attack were it not for the scar tissue left behind. There is also indication that the scar tissue is formed because of the inflammation. Hence, if one could reduce the level of inflammation during an attack, it may be possible to reduce the some of the long-range impact of the attack. Much about this is speculative and not well documented. Several studies have been made concerning the effectiveness of drugs that typically reduce inflammation, but their effectiveness has not been encouraging. That does not necessarily mean that the concept is invalid, it could merely be that the particular drugs tested happened to be ineffective at an MS site, whereas a different one might yet prove to be effective. Oxygen is the most effective anti-inflammatory available.