Innovative Autism Drug: Oxygen

By Meghan Yost, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Originally used to treat navy seals recovering from scuba dives, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is now considered a powerful treatment of autism.

The FDA approved device uses a pressurized chamber to encourage the body to absorb oxygen. “It actually opens up the capillary beds in the arteries, increasing the flow of blood,” David S. Berger, M.D., a pediatrician at Wholistic Pediatrics in Tampa, Fla., told Ivanhoe. “Not only is oxygen, as a drug, being delivered to the end cells, but also nutrients,” Dr. Berger explained.

According to Dan Rossignol, M.D., a physician at International Child Development Resource Center in Melbourne, Fla., as many as 86 percent of autistic individuals suffer from cerebral hypoperfusion, or decreased blood flow to the brain. HBOT helps relieve the many autistic symptoms associated with this condition, like repetitive, self-stimulatory behaviors, social impairment, language difficulties, and lower IQ.

Doctors say HBOT results speak for themselves. After just one session with Dr. Berger, a completely nonverbal child said “no” for the first time. “By the end of the first week of therapy, he was saying four words,” Dr. Berger said.

Shannon Kennitz saw even more dramatic results with her daughter, Grace, one of only five documented individuals in the world to suffer from an extremely rare mitochondrial disorder. At age three, Grace could not speak, see, or keep her head up. She suffered from seizures and was being kept alive through life support. Her doctors were ready to let her die, but as a last resort, Kennitz brought Grace to receive HBOT. Since starting the treatments, Grace has recovered from blindness, can walk, talk, and is seizure free. No others with her disorder had ever lived past two years of age.

Grace was diagnosed with autism at age five. In addition to other treatments, she continues HBOT, and sometimes is accompanied in the chamber by her speech therapist!

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with David S. Berger, M.D. and Autism Orlando Biennial Conference 2008, Orlando, Fla., Feb. 14 -17, 2008