Oxygen Therapy
at Oasis of Hope
The Place for Alternative Cancer Treatment
Oxidation (increased oxygen concentration) is the most effective way to kill a cancer cell, so tumors have developed means to keep themselves hypoxic (low in oxygen). Successful oxidation can occur through natural therapies (high dose I.V. vitamin), chemical treatments (chemo), or physical interventions (radiation).
Oasis of Hope is a firm believer in ozone (or hyperbaric oxygen) therapy as an integral part of comprehensive cancer treatment. Decades of usage have demonstrated that in most cases this oxidizing strategy is efficient and effective. Our patients frequently experience tumor reduction, increased longevity, and improved quality of life.
HBO or HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy)
Before Home Box Office there was hyperbaric oxygen, also known as HBO. Another treatment that can increase oxygen levels in tumors, HBO can be used safely in concert with radiation and chemo. Critics of its use in cancer therapy have said it induces cancer cell growth, even though studies have proven otherwise; oncologists who hold that it does simply have not reviewed the published results in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Some other oncologists believe HBO is a contraindication (scenario in which a treatment shouldn’t be given) for use with certain chemo-types, including Cisplatin, because it could contribute to renal failure.
The findings reveal that one HBO treatment may reduce Cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, protecting kidney function. Because the same study also found that two HBO treatments could increase nephrotoxicity, HBO frequency and duration must be controlled to avoid renal failure when used in conjunction with Cisplatin.
The benefits outweigh the risks, which can be mitigated by proper use
A superior method to produce this effect is by breathing pure oxygen while in a pressurized chamber. This is called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, sometimes abbreviated HBO or HBOT. (“Hyper” means “over” and “baric” refers to atmospheric pressure.)
Oxidative Preconditioning Therapy
Part of Oasis of Hope’s Oxidative Preconditioning Therapy is to give patients hyperbaric oxygen sessions of 60 to 90 minutes, at a pressure of 2.5 atmospheres.
We combine these sessions with nutraceuticals and a safe drug called Trental (Pentoxifylline), to augment HBOT’s effect. Trentalis an FDA-approved drug used to improve the flow of blood by decreasing its viscosity (making it “thinner”), increasing blood flow the microcirculation system and enhancing tissue oxygenation.
In recent years, more and more research is being conducted in oxygen and hyperbaric oxygen that suggest that it could be an important element in the treatment of cancer. One such study concluded that increasing the partial pressure of oxygen in tumors may in fact reduce the formation of new blood vessels, a process that is called angiogenesis. This can result in a significant slowing of tumor growth.
Repeated hyperbaric oxygen sessions prior to chemotherapy may insure that the body’s normal tissues are in much better condition to cope with the oxidative stress imposed by the subsequent chemotherapy. Thus, the intent of Oxidative Preconditioning Therapy is to make chemotherapy more tolerable for the patient while simultaneously improving the ability of the cancer treatment to destroy the tumor.
Ozone Autohemotherapy
An alternative technique used for Oxidative Preconditioning Therapy is called ozone autohemotherapy (“auto” means self, and “hemo” means blood).
In ozone autohemotherapy, about 200 ml of a patient’s blood are drawn, and this blood is exposed to ozone and ultraviolet light. Ozone is a molecule comprised of three oxygen atoms (“O3”), as opposed to the predominant atmospheric oxygen we breathe, which consists of two oxygen atoms (O2). Ultraviolet light (UV) is light with a wavelength shorter than visible light: it exists just beyond the violet end of the visible light spectrum, hence its name.
Both ozone and UV light effect the blood by producing oxidized compounds. The treated blood is then reinfused into the patient. The oxidized compounds it contains serve as a signal of oxidative stress to the body’s normal healthy tissues, reflexively causing them to increase their production of protective antioxidant enzymes.
Because most cancer treatments are oxidative, including high dose Vitamin C, chemotherapy and radiation, Ozone is an effective adjuvant cancer treatment. That is why repeated sessions of ozone and UV autohemotherapy prior to chemotherapy insure that the body’s normal tissues are in much better condition to cope with the oxidative stress imposed by the subsequent chemotherapy. Thus, the intent of Oxidative Preconditioning Therapy is to make therapy more tolerable for the patient while simultaneously improving the ability of the therapy to destroy the tumor!
In addition, we further enhance this therapy with a vasodilator called Pentoxifylline, which allows better dispersion of oxygen and at the same time it may help inhibit unwanted weight loss.
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