Hyperbaric medicine has grown from a simple experiment four centuries back into a medical therapy with vast potential that still may be untapped. For a while its practitioner's lived on the edge of being labeled "snake-oil salesmen." It took hundreds of years, but that myth has been dispelled.
Significance
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is the medical process of breathing 100 percent oxygen under increased atmospheric pressure. The patient enters a specialized hyperbaric chamber that regulates the flow of oxygen and controls air pressure. The primary benefit is in increasing the pressure of oxygen within tissues in the body, a process not possible at normal atmospheric pressure. HBOT allows the blood to carry increased oxygen. Under normal atmospheric pressure, blood plasma transports very little oxygen, but when air pressure is increased, the ability of plasma to hold and move oxygen is greatly improved.
Origin
In 1662, a British clergyman named Henshaw, who possessed no scientific or medical background, made his mark on hyperbaric history by developing the first crude hyperbaric chamber, which he called a "domicilium." Dr. Tom S. Neuman and Dr. Stephen R. Thom, authors of the book "Physiology and Medicine of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy," say Henshaw's goal was to treat acute disorders and chronic disease by providing a change in atmosphere: "The changes were designed to simulate the effects of climate change as one traveled to higher altitudes (the mountains) or lower altitudes (the coast) ... His domicilium was nothing more than a sealed room. Attached to it was a pair of large organ bellows. By manipulation of a series of valves and operation of the bellows, the atmosphere within the room could be condensed (compressed)."
Henshaw's work went largely unnoticed, and nearly 200 years would pass before anyone else placed much interest in the development of this process.
1800s
Emile Tabarie, a physician in Montpellier, France, renewed interest in what would come to be known as hyperbaric therapy. In 1832, he prepared a description of a pneumatic laboratory and presented it to the French Academy of Scientists, beginning studies on the effects of air pressure for medicinal purposes. Another French doctor, Junod, in 1834 constructed the first specifically designed hyperbaric chamber. In 1837, there was the construction of a large chamber capable of housing 12 people.
Interest in this new therapy technique grew quickly throughout Europe with chambers sprouting in most major cities on the continent. Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, contributed to hyperbaric history as the home of the first hyperbaric chamber in North American in 1860. A year later, the first chamber in the United States was constructed in New York state.
Early 1900s
It was in the 1920s that hyperbaric study in the U.S. received widespread attention. According to a 2008 article written by Dr. Emi Latham, Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency and Hyperbaric Medicine at the University of California at San Diego, Dr. Orville Cunningham, a professor of anesthesia, ran what was known as the "Steel Ball Hospital." The structure, erected in 1928, was 6 stories high and 64 feet in diameter. The hospital was closed in 1930 because of the lack of scientific evidence indicating that such treatment alleviated disease. It was deconstructed during World War II for scrap."
Modern Use
Eventually, the benefits of this therapy for diving decompression and other such disorders became apparent. In the 1960s, HBOT's ability to treat carbon monoxide poisoning sparked a surge in medical acceptance. Major institutions like Duke University and New York's Mt. Sinai Hospital, along with many others, began installing hyperbaric chambers. Today, nearly all major, medical, scientific and educational institutions utilize hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of dozens of illnesses.
Tags: hyperbaric chamber, atmospheric pressure, hyperbaric history, Hyperbaric Oxygen, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, normal atmospheric, normal atmospheric pressure