Fwd: Hyperbaric oxygen treatments mobilize stem cells

[Guest guest]

Interesting...

Another 2006 good news study..and maybe insurance will cover it this

year!!!

http://www.rxpgnews.com/article_3086.shtml

Hyperbaric oxygen treatments mobilize stem cells

Jan 1, 2006, 21:02, Reviewed by: Dr. Priya Saxena

" We found that hyperbaric oxygen mobilizes stem/progenitor

cells because it increases synthesis of a molecule called nitric

oxide in the bone marrow. This synthesis is thought to trigger

enzymes that mediate stem/progenitor cell release. "

By University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, According to a

study to be published in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart

and Circulation Physiology, a typical course of hyperbaric oxygen

treatments increases by eight-fold the number of stem cells

circulating in a patient's body. Stem cells, also called progenitor

cells are crucial to injury repair. The study currently appears on-

line and is scheduled for publication in the April 2006 edition of

the American Journal.

Stem cells exist in the bone marrow of human beings and animals and

are capable of changing their nature to become part of many

different organs and tissues. In response to injury, these cells

move from the bone marrow to the injured sites, where they

differentiate into cells that assist in the healing process. The

movement, or mobilization, of stem cells can be triggered by a

variety of stimuli – including pharmaceutical agents and hyperbaric

oxygen treatments. Where as drugs are associated with a host of side

effects, hyperbaric oxygen treatments carry a significantly lower

risk of such effects.

" This is the safest way clinically to increase stem cell

circulation, far safer than any of the pharmaceutical options, " said

Thom, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Emergency Medicine at the

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and lead author of the

study. " This study provides information on the fundamental

mechanisms for hyperbaric oxygen and offers a new theoretical

therapeutic option for mobilizing stem cells. "

" We reproduced the observations from humans in animals in order to

identify the mechanism for the hyperbaric oxygen effect, " added

Thom. " We found that hyperbaric oxygen mobilizes stem/progenitor

cells because it increases synthesis of a molecule called nitric

oxide in the bone marrow. This synthesis is thought to trigger

enzymes that mediate stem/progenitor cell release. "

Hopefully, future study of hyperbaric oxygen's role in mobilizing

stem cells will provide a wide array of treatments for combating

injury and disease.

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