e~i'r 0 (1_ I 101-- L,.. Increase oxygen research A growing number of troops That's the right approach. But with head injuries say hyperbaric the military can and should do oxygen therapy is helping them more to make that happen. live better lives. An Air Force study launched in The treatment is the same used 2008 was expected to produce pre• GANNETT on scuba divers who surface too liminary results in 2010, yet so Go'vernrt~ent h/iec1ia fast with the ''bends'': Divers are far nothing has been published. Publisher of: , Navy Times, , Marine Corps locked in a tank into which pres• And a two-year Army-led study Times, , Federal Tinll!s, Arnmd Forces Journal, C41SR Journal, Training & Simulation Journal and Military Times EDGE surized oxygen is pumped at that was to start in January 2010

President, CEO G.E. Howard above normal atmospheric level. didn't get off the ground until this Editor in Chief Tobias Naegele In all, the therapy is approved past October. Senior Managing Editor/News Alex Neill by the medical community to Hundreds of thousands of Iraq Vice President/Advertising Ed Villescas Vice President/Audience treat 14 conditions - including and Mghanistan veterans are Development Donna Peterson soft tissue injuries, acute burns coming home with head wounds and carbon monoxide poisoning. and mental problems that might Navy Times (ISSN 0028-1697) Tosuhsaibe or ctlanoe 3n address, wrile Navy Times, Attn.: Subscriber Service Deparlment, 6883 Commercial Drive, Pressurized oxygen also is benefit from this therapy. In addi• Springfield, VA 22159-0230. Pbotoropies: Conlen!s copyrigllleiJ. The Copyrigllt known to boost the effects of some tion, concussions have become a Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, DiJnvers, MA 01923, is licensed 10 authorize ptlotocopying of any mUcie Ilerein. Fee is $3.50 per copy per article, antibiotics, stimulate white blood major concern among the adoles• limited to SODcopies. Oruer online at wWN.copyright.com specifying cent student athletes who make ISSN 0028-1697. For custom article reprints, e-prints, posters, plaques & cells to fight infection and pro• permissions please contact: PARS International Corp. (212) 221-9595 x431 mote healing. up the core of the military's or visit Wvlw.ganneltreprints.com. Mv~staxIa1Is: Advertising is iJccepted on the premise that the merchandise and servims are accurately described. Ads Iflat But it's not yet recommended contain fraudulent, deceptive or misleading statements or illustrations, or in the opinion of Navy Times lTIay 00 offensive, are not knowingly accepted. If you for concussions, the signature recruitingSo the Defensemarket.Department's \. encounter noncompliance, please tell us...e~ Member,I\u(ti~oI injury of the current wars, or for research could benefit not only Ciut1tiIns. ~saIes offices: lDs ~ 10940 Wilsllire Blvd., Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90024. (310) 444-2136. Fax: (310) 893:1171. ~~; post-traumatic stress disorder. troops, but the nation at large • 6883 Commercial Drive, Springfield, VA 22159. (703) 750-8910. Fax: (703) Military researchers say they if it would shift into a higher gear. 658-8410. Toll free: (SOO) 424-9335. Ctassifiro: (703) 750-8900. don't want to rush HBOT, but Military medical authorities instead prove its efficacy for head must place greater emphasis on injuries through peer-reviewed this small but critical area of scientific processes. research.

4 Navylimes December 12, 2011 Washington be:-L~77 6f::)1.. J z- 2...0 I i h' AV Y '{ I )11 cS

Frank McKay,a disabled veteran suffering from leg sores as a Wounded troops report relief result of diabetes, lies in an Air Force hyperbaric chamber. lime in the chamber exposes from hyperbaric· oxygen therapy patients to high levels of oxygen I that enrich the blood to the point \ shows little evidence of paralysis promote the healing process. where oxygen is carried even by DoD is waiting for and the headaches have faded • However, oxygen isn't officially plasma, which boosts the body's results from studies improvements she attributes to recommended for treating head healing abilities. treatment in a hyperbaric cham• injuries. And military leaders say STEVE THUROW/AIR FORCE ber, the same pressurized units they aren't going to rush to use it and we're not giving them the treat- Louisiana State University, Vair's before endorsing it used for healing scuba divers with for that purpose before it's vetted. ment they deserve," said retired doctor. By Patricia Kime the bends. "We need to base therapies on Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, a for- "The sooner these studies are pkime@militarytimes,com A growing body of anecdotal , objective clinical data that cannot mer Army Medical Corps officer completed, the sooner the optimal Retired Army Sgt. Margaux Vair evidence appears to indicate that be influenced by opinions of people now on the staff of a Bethesda, Md., hyperbaric treatment regime, believes breathing pure oxygen in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or who have benefited," former Navy hyperbaric oxygen clinic. any, can be determined," said Dr. a pressurized chamber eased the HBOT, helps patients with trau• Surgeon General Vice Adm. Adam There is no standard regimen for George Wolf, a researcher with the manifestations of her brain injury matic brain injury and post• Robinson told Congress in March. TBI, but many pra<;titioners con- Air Force School of Aerospace - migraines, memory loss and traumatic stress disorder. Two Defense Department-led duct 40 treatments, called "dives," Medicine. facial paralysis. But the Pentagon wants peer• studies are looking at the effects of at 1.5 atmospheres of pressure, Wolf declined to disclose his Vail', a military policewoman, reviewed, scientific evidence HEOT on troops with TBI: an Air roughly equivalent to an hourlong study's preliminary results but was on deployment in Iraq in before it will endorse HBOT for Force study initiated in 2008 in scuba trip 33 feet below sea level indicated some subjects showed 2006 when her Humvee struck a troops with head injuries or men• San Antonio that was expected to Vail' said she had 40 dives, fol- improvement without side effects. roadside bomb, smashing her tal health issues. produce preliminary results in lowed by 40 more, and by her 60th Meanwhile, HBOT enthusiasts head against the turret and HBOT is approved to treat 14 2010; and a two-year, $20 million treatment, no longer needed med- are pressuring Congress. Linda briefly knocking her out. Three medical conditions, including the Army-led study that was to begin ication like Topomax for migraines Cope, whose son Joshua lost both days later, she returned to duty bends, soft-tissue injuries, acute in January 2010 at fourmilitary and Tramadol for pain. legs in a bomb blast in Iraq in and served three more months -,• burns and carbon monoxide poison• medical centers across the nation. "I wish I had a dive chamber in 2006, spoke at an advocacy forum until her vehicle rolled over ing, according to the Hyperbaric The Air Forcs study results have my basement," she said. in Arlington, Va., in November. another bomb. ihd Undersea Medical Association. yet to be published and the Army The Pentagon has encouraged "Something needs to be done for "That's when the nerve problems Oxygell delivered under pressure study began in October - a snail's troops with TEl and PTSD to vole these people to be whole again," started," she said. "I don't know also is known to improve the effects pace that has HBOT· advocates unteer for its studies. And the ser- she said. "I thank God for the when the headaches began." of some antibiotics, stimulate white frustrated. vices have also referred them to hyberbarics. Without it, I don't Today, the Kent, Ohio, resident blood cells to fight infection and "We've got an epidemic here ... HBOT researcher Paul Harch at know where my son would be." 0 ;