Using Oxygen to Treat Depression
October 26, 2015
The Jerusalem Post — After BGU researchers found “significant improvements” in the condition of schizophrenic patients who underwent oxygen therapy, they will now try to replicate their success on sufferers of depression.
Prof. Pesach Shvartzman
Yehudit Bloch, a doctoral student in BGU’s Faculty of Health Sciences, says that exposing psychiatric patients to a 40 percent concentration of oxygen in the air instead of the 21 percent found in normal air is very safe and effective.
This extra oxygen is delivered via an ordinary plastic tube instead of in a high-pressure (hyperbaric) oxygen chamber.
Under the supervision of Prof. Pesach Shvartzman, also of BGU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and founder of Israel’s first Department of Family Medicine, the research team found a connection between an inadequate supply of oxygen to the brain and poor function of the mitochondria (energy-producing fibers) in the cells. This can disrupt the functioning of neurons and the electrical activity of the brain.
Therefore, raising the amount of oxygen inhaled by the patient has the potential to improve their overall psychiatric functioning.
Read more on The Jerusalem Post website >>
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