Researchers Look for New Cerebral Palsy Treatment

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, is the site of a new $1.77 million federally funded study offering free therapy to children with cerebral palsy. The therapy is HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy), in which a high concentration of oxygen is administered to the subject in a pressurized (hyperbaric) chamber. The study will test whether HBOT can help ease the symptoms of cerebral palsy.

Easing Symptoms, Increasing Motor Skills?

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has the laboratory equipment to conduct the HBOT testing, and the study will examine 48 children with cerebral palsy to see whether the hyperbaric oxygen treatment eases symptoms and increases motor skills by reviving dormant or damaged brain cells, as theorized by some researchers.

HBOT is already used widely to treat:

carbon monoxide poisoning
radiation injuries
wounds that are not healing well
air or gas embolisms
crush injuries
intracranial abscesses
"the bends," i.e., the decompression sickness occasionally experienced by scuba divers who
return to the surface too quickly

Benefits Are Not Confirmed

The use of HBOT for cerebral palsy is controversial. Some physicians dismiss it as a waste of time and money on a therapy that has had no proven benefits for CP; others contend that:

More data is needed, especially on large numbers of children.
Studies are needed that are double-blind (i.e., both the staff and the patients/families are not informed whether the patient is receiving the treatment or a placebo).
Longer-term study is necessary, to determine whether the improvements from HBOT are lasting.

The current study takes all of these factors into account. Dr. Daniel Lacey is leading the study at Wright-Patterson, in collaboration with Kettering Medical Center, the Children's Medical Center of Dayton, and Wright State University's Boonshoft School of Medicine.

(Source: Middle Town Journal)

Do you have a child living with cerebral palsy?

If your child or other family member has cerebral palsy and you are looking for legal advice and medical options, contact a cerebral palsy attorney in your area who represents individuals with CP.