How’s Your Heart

Studies show that HBOT can reduce the risk of death from heart attack and unstable angina, improve oxygen supply to the heart and may reduce the volume of heart muscle that perishes. A new study shows that it is also helpful for those of us not suffering from acute heart disease as well.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve heart functionality in healthy aging humans, according to a study* by the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center in Be’er Ya’acov. The study, led by Dr. Marina Leitman, Dr. Shmuel Fuchs, Dr. Amir Hadanny, Dr. Zvi Vered and Efrati, was published in the International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging.

Healthy patients receiving HBOT to improve cognitive function underwent a 60-session treatment course using the Sagol Center’s regenerative HBOT protocols. Along with normal aging, there is typically a decrease in cardiac function – particularly in the mitochondrial cells of the heart. Using a high-resolution echocardiography, 31 patients were evaluated before HBOT was administered and three weeks after treatment concluded to identify the sustained effect of the treatment. What the team observed was “an improvement in contractility function of the heart – meaning, the heart muscle contracted more efficiency over the course of the 60-session protocol. 

Shai Efrati, co-author and director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center—one of the largest hyperbaric treatment centers in the world— explained the significance of such findings: “As we age, a decrease in mitochondrial function occurs throughout the body, impacting the functionality of organs, including the heart. For the first time in humans, using our HBOT protocol, we have demonstrated the possibility of heart functionality improvement in healthy, aging people. The results of this study are in accordance with other studies demonstrating that HBOT can improve mitochondrial function.”
 
By exposing the mitochondria to the fluctuations in oxygen by the use of HBOT, the team observed “an improvement in contractility function of the heart – meaning, the heart muscle contracted more efficiency over the course of the 60-session protocol.“The mitochondria are the ‘powerhouse” of the cell’ [and] this is where we create energy,” he said. “HBOT’s ability to improve mitochondrial function may explain the beneficial effects that we saw in the cardiac function of this normal aging population.”

Efrati said the effect was particularly evident in the left ventricle, which is the chamber responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.