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Boussi-Gross R, Catalogna M, Lang E, Shamai Z, Ablin JN, Aloush V, Doenyas-Barak K, Lorberboym M, Lev-Wiesel R, Efrati S. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy vs. pharmacological intervention in adults with fibromyalgia related to childhood sexual abuse: prospective, randomized clinical trial. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11599. [PMID: 38773296 PMCID: PMC11109175 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62161-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by disruptions in pain processing within the central nervous system. It exhibits a high prevalence among patients with a history of traumatic experiences, notably childhood sexual abuse (CSA). This study compared the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to the current pharmacological standard of care for individuals suffering from CSA-related FMS. Forty-eight participants diagnosed with FMS and a history of CSA were randomly assigned to either the HBOT group (60 sessions of 100% oxygen at 2 ATA for 90 min, with air breaks every 5 min) or the medication (MED) group (FDA-approved medications, Pregabalin and Duloxetine). The primary endpoint was the Fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ) score, while secondary endpoints encompassed emotional status and daily functioning questionnaires, as well as pain thresholds and conditioned pain modulation tests. Brain activity was evaluated through single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Results revealed a significant group-by-time interaction for the FIQ score favoring HBOT over MED (p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Cohen's d = - 1.27). Similar findings were observed in emotional symptoms and functional measures. SPECT imaging demonstrated an increase in activity in pre-frontal and temporal brain areas, which correlated with symptoms improvement. In conclusion, HBOT exhibited superior benefits over medications in terms of physical, functional, and emotional improvements among FMS patients with a history of CSA. This associated with increased activity in pre-frontal and temporal brain areas, highlighting the neuroplasticity effect of HBOT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahav Boussi-Gross
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Merav Catalogna
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Erez Lang
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Zipora Shamai
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Jacob N Ablin
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Valerie Aloush
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Keren Doenyas-Barak
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Mordechai Lorberboym
- Nuclear Medicine Institute, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Rachel Lev-Wiesel
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- The Emili Sagol CAT Research Center, Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Shai Efrati
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
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Hadanny A, Zilberman-Itskovich S, Catalogna M, Elman-Shina K, Lang E, Finci S, Polak N, Shorer R, Parag Y, Efrati S. Long term outcomes of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in post covid condition: longitudinal follow-up of a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3604. [PMID: 38360929 PMCID: PMC10869702 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53091-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
In our previous randomized controlled trial, we documented significant improvements in cognitive, psychiatric, fatigue, sleep, and pain symptoms among long Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID) patients who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The primary objective of the present study was to evaluate the enduring 1 year long term effects of HBOT on long COVID syndrome. This longitudinal long-term follow-up included 31 patients with reported post COVID-19 cognitive symptoms, who underwent 40 daily sessions of HBOT. Participants were recruited more than one year (486 ± 73) after completion of the last HBOT session. Quality of life, assessed using the short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire revealed, that the long-term results exhibited a similar magnitude of improvement as the short-term outcomes following HBOT across most domains. Regarding sleep quality, improvements were observed in global score and across five sleep domains with effect sizes of moderate magnitude during the short-term evaluation, and these improvements persisted in the long-term assessment (effect size (ES1) = 0.47-0.79). In the realm of neuropsychiatric symptoms, as evaluated by the brief symptom inventory-18 (BSI-18), the short-term assessment following HBOT demonstrated a large effect size, and this effect persisted at the long-term evaluation. Both pain severity (ES1 = 0.69) and pain interference (ES1 = 0.83), had significant improvements during the short-term assessment post HBOT, which persisted at long term. The results indicate HBOT can improve the quality of life, quality of sleep, psychiatric and pain symptoms of patients suffering from long COVID. The clinical improvements gained by HBOT are persistent even 1 year after the last HBOT session.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Hadanny
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
| | - Shani Zilberman-Itskovich
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Merav Catalogna
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Karin Elman-Shina
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Erez Lang
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Shachar Finci
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Nir Polak
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Ran Shorer
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Yoav Parag
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Shai Efrati
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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Doenyas-Barak K, Kutz I, Lang E, Merzbach R, Lev Wiesel R, Boussi-Gross R, Efrati S. The use of hyperbaric oxygen for veterans with PTSD: basic physiology and current available clinical data. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1259473. [PMID: 38027524 PMCID: PMC10630921 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1259473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects up to 30% of veterans returning from the combat zone. Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of them do not remit with the current available treatments and thus continue to experience long-term social, behavioral, and occupational dysfunction. Accumulating data implies that the long-standing unremitting symptoms are related to changes in brain activity and structure, mainly disruption in the frontolimbic circuit. Hence, repair of brain structure and restoration of function could be a potential aim of effective treatment. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been effective in treating disruptions of brain structure and functions such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and fibromyalgia even years after the acute insult. These favorable HBOT brain effects may be related to recent protocols that emphasize frequent fluctuations in oxygen concentrations, which in turn contribute to gene expression alterations and metabolic changes that induce neuronal stem cell proliferation, mitochondrial multiplication, angiogenesis, and regulation of the inflammatory cascade. Recently, clinical findings have also demonstrated the beneficial effect of HBOT on veterans with treatment-resistant PTSD. Moderation of intrusive symptoms, avoidance, mood and cognitive symptoms, and hyperarousal were correlated with improved brain function and with diffusion tensor imaging-defined structural changes. This article reviews the current data on the regenerative biological effects of HBOT, and the ongoing research of its use for veterans with PTSD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keren Doenyas-Barak
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ilan Kutz
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Erez Lang
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Rachel Merzbach
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- The Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Rachel Lev Wiesel
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- The Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Rahav Boussi-Gross
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
| | - Shai Efrati
- Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel
- School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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