Hyperbaric chamber treatments did not help with mild TBI

Hyperbaric chamber treatments did not help with mild TBI
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
USA Today
Gregg Zoroya
September 21, 2013

Scientists found no significant benefit to a popular idea of using a pressurized chamber to force oxygen into the brain to heal mild brain injuries suffered by tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans, according to a scientific study by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs published this week.

"There's no magic bullet," David Cifu, VA national director for physical medicine and rehabilitation services. "We wished it worked. ... But it didn't work."

The study results leave the military and the VA without any tool for directly treating an injury characterized as a "signature wound" of the two wars.

Some troops exposed to several roadside bombs during operations had more than one mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) or concussion from exposure to blasts.

More than 230,000 troops have suffered mild TBI since 2000, according to the Pentagon. Ten percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at the VA report ongoing mild brain injury symptoms such as headaches, light sensitivity and problem-solving deficits.

Subjects in the latest study were 60 Marines who had suffered mild brain injuries from exposure to roadside bombs, mortars or rocket-propelled grenades. Some were administered various pressurized levels of oxygen, others were merely provided pressurized levels of normal air as a control group.

Scientists found no difference in the outcomes for any of them.
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Do you think they should have found out about this before spending this much money?

Two Defense Department-led studies are looking at the effects of HBOT on troops with TBI: an Air Force study initiated in 2008 in San Antonio that was expected to produce preliminary results in 2010; and a two-year, $20 million Army-led study that was to begin in January 2010 at four military medical centers across the nation.