Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for Kidney Disease

[Kaymbsc]

Has anyone heard or read about Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)?

My dog Mandy's BUN & creatinine levels improved last week, but she still refuses food -- no matter what I offer including baby food, all-natural green tripe, canned green tripe, sardines in water, chicken, organ meats, cooked eggs, whatever. A week ago, her BUN dropped from 105 to 79. Her Creatinine dropped form 3.9 to 3.4. (She's on anti-acids, and she's been getting SQ fluids 2x daily).

While her kidney values improved, her albumin and Alb/Glob ratios were too low
  Albumin: 2.0 (normal range 2.7-3.9)
  Alb/Glob Ratio:  05 (normal range 0.7-1.5)

So liver tests were run & results are expected tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in looking for a veterinary internist who is ACVIM board-certified, I found one of the ACVIM vet practices I'm considering now offers HBOT.

http://www.veterinaryspecialtycare.com/surgical-careChamber.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzcgEiCdhqA

http://www.hyperbaricchambertreatment.com/can-hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-cure-kidney-disease.html

Thoughts, anyone?

Kay

[DarbiesMom]

Good Lord....

I'm still trying to shake off:

"Equine hyperbaric oxygen chamber explosion in Florida kills woman and horse"

I think this falls back on my theory, "less is more"...

Lynne

[tonyb286]

I asked a very good friend - who has a background in human related physiology, science and medicine - about hyperbaric oxygen therapy. I offer his response without comment, as it rather speaks for itself:

"Its just like fashion, the same fads keep getting recycled and I remember Hyperbaric Oxygen when it first became popular.

You put someone in a chamber of pure oxygen at 2 to 3 times atmospheric pressure. This supersaturates the tissues with oxygen to the point you don't actually need the heamoglobin in the blood. The original ideas in fact were based on a mistaken understanding of physiology. It does help in treating decompression sickness, its useful in anaerobic infections like gas gangrene, promoted healing in anoxic tissue like pressure sores. Its the best way of managing carbon monoxide poisoning, it can enhance radiotherapy and is even used to maintain a youthful appearance, Micheal Jackson used it, in fact if he had been in a chamber at the time he might have survived the OD.

Its been tried on all sorts of things but its been called the treatment looking for a disease to treat which is a better reflection of reality.

The article is rubbish unfortunately it seems to suggest that becauser it can help tissues heal then it can heal your kidneys,but this only works if the tissues are hypoxic. It also suggests that oxygen flowing around your body is always a good thing while in fact oxygen metabolism involves the body in some convoluted chemistry to keep this dangerous and corrosive substance in check.
Research in kidney disease seems to border on non existent, which is odd considering how long its been around the only stuff I could find was related to kidney damage in specific infections, these being low quality studies on mice. Some hyperbaric O2 therapy centers (private/alternative) do offer it for kidney disease along with anything else, with some supporting testimonials, but its difficult to see how it could work."

Tony

[tonyb286]

Hi. Well, it hasn't taken very long for me to conclude that this therapy is totally unproven, with the only exception being in treating some chronic wounds (skin and tissue damage) in humans. The FDA approves its use in some very specific circumstances, and kidney disease in humans is NOT one of them. It certainly does not approve its use with animals - and none of the claims made have been tested and proven to be beneficial on dogs.

Perhaps the biggest concern is the problems associated with this type of "therapy" ... namely ... PAIN. Humans are able to complain during "treatments" - and so, they can stop participating. Dogs are not so fortunate. There is also the risk of causing many other problems too.

And perhaps even more disconcerting is the risk of fire and explosion. Bear in mind Oxygen is explosive. If you think this is unlikely ...

This headline caught my attention:

"Equine hyperbaric oxygen chamber explosion in Florida kills woman and horse"

Read the full story at: http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/equine-hyperbaric-oxygen-chamber-explosion-florida-kills-woman-and-horse

In 2013, The Skeptical Vet looked into this kind of treatment rather well (I think) and came to the conclusion that:

"HBOT is a biologically plausible therapy with substantial in vitro and animal model research to support possible benefits in a variety of conditions. There is, however, almost no clinical trial evidence to support its use in companion animal species. Justification of veterinary use of HBOT comes only from extrapolation from basic principles, pre-clinical research, anecdote, and extrapolation from research in humans, so this should be viewed as an unproven, experimental veterinary therapy."

You can read their full analysis here: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2013/05/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-for-pets-whats-the-evidence

Hope this info helps.

Tony

[tonyb286]

Hi. This is completely new to me, so thank you for bringing it to our attention. I am a natural sceptic on many new claims being made about "curing kidney disease", and this one is no different. Whether it can improve degenerated cells right at the very start of the disease is another and much more interesting suggestion, probably worthy of some research. But it certainly can't cure kidney disease once it has reached the point of being a chronic illness. Bear in mind most vets only diagnose in the final stages, usually when 75% of the kidneys have been irreparably damaged.

I am happy to look at this therapy more though - as any and all possibilities are worthy of some inspection and consideration.

Tony