HBOT Conversations:
Dr. Hemal Mehta & Fasting (Part 1)
Dr. Hemal Mehta, MD is a Medical Director and an Independent Medical Examiner who focuses on pain management through a Regenerative medicine approach.
Dr. Mehta is Board Certified in Physical Medicine and Pain Management. He received his Doctor of Medicine Degree from Ross University School of Medicine and completed his residency at East Carolina. He is the Medical Director of Vibrant Health of North Carolina, Tennessee Integrative Pain Institute, and TN Integrative Healthcare: Musculoskeletal and Regenerative Center; additionally, Dr. Mehta is the attending physician at Nashville Regenerative Orthopedics.
Dr. Mehta is the 2013 recipient of the Inaugural Patient Appreciation Award at Nashville Academy of Medicine, and the 2004 Research Resident of the Year for East Carolina University.
Dr. Mehta has extensive experience with stem cell proliferation, and angiogenesis. He has incorporated Ozone Injection Therapy, PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) Injections, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Regenerative Matrix and Regenerative Medicine Procedures – to name a few – into his integrative wellness & longevity medical practices.
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HBOT News Network welcomes Dr. Hemal V. Mehta, M.D.; Medical Director of Vibrant Health of North Carolina.
After the first 10-15 years of his medical career focusing on interventional pain management, Dr. Mehta started to get involved in regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicines is a newer field of medicine involving PRP – Platelet Rich Plasma, stem cells, and different techniques (like HBOT) to help regenerate tissue in the body. When he first started using regenerative medicine, Dr. Mehta witnessed his patients doing considerably better and improving to the point that he was able to even wean them off of opioid pain medications. It was then that Dr. Mehta started integrating Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT or HBO Therapy) into some of the individualized patient healing plans he would develop for optimum healing.
Dr. Mehta touches on inflammation and how inflammation is one of the greatest problems people today deal with on a daily basis. Bad food choices, injuries and even stress all contributes to an increase of inflammation. Targeting inflammation is key to a healthy body and mind. Hyperbaric oxygen is an ideal therapy to address inflammation by upregulating the anti-inflammatory gene and downregulating the inflammatory gene. Dr. Mehta also mentions other therapies that assist in reducing inflammation in the joints and body — regenerative treatments using stem cells, PRP, ozone injections and exosomes.
According to Dr. Mehta, too much focus and energy goes into the promotion of pharmaceutical drugs to ease every ailment, indication or condition. He mentioned that when he was studying for his medical degree, he had almost two years of pharmacology classes but only one six-week semester of nutrition. It’s unfortunate that nutrition is not stressed more to young doctors, because much of the food we purchase at the grocery store is toxic and very pro-inflammatory. Dr. Mehta stresses that “you are what you eat”. Processed food is one of the worst things for our bodies. In his opinion, processed food is a major oxygen depleter since our bodies have to use extra energy and oxygen to break it down. Our bodies have to work much harder to break down processed junk, so he encourages our viewers to eat foods that are natural and avoid processed.
Since nutrition is a HUGE part of a person’s health, it’s important to look at alternatives to pharmaceutical drugs – like Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and fasting. In Dr. Mehta’s opinion, fasting is an excellent way for people to maintain health. Our bodies don’t necessarily NEED 3 meals a day, so when we overeat our bodies store the excess. Dr. Mehta is a big believer in fasting and reminds us that fasting is the ultimate detox. Food, especially processed food, sugar, and food with high fructose corn syrup, can be very pro-inflammatory and toxic. Fasting accelerates the process of the liver cleaning out toxins and gives our organs a much needed break to heal and rejuvenate. Fasting dates back to the Bible and beyond – every religious facet has fasting as part of their religion.
Fasting is nothing new, so try it and add Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy into the mix too; something magical is truly happening to the body when you fast and receive HBOT. Dr. Mehta reminds us that there is also a strong association between fasting and reduced cancer risk, which he will get into more in Part 2 of our Conversations with Dr. Mehta about fasting & HBOT. Stay tuned to learn more about how fasting starves the cancer cells from the sugars and nutrients they need to feed and grow.
*Pease consult your doctor to see if fasting is right for you.
Guest
Dr. Hemal Mehta
Dr. Hemal Mehta specializes in non-opioid treatment for joint pain, osteoarthritis, spine pain and neuropathy. He is a board-certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation physician whose goal for patients is to reduce pain while increasing their level of function & quality of life. He received his Doctor of Medicine Degree from Ross University School of Medicine and completed his residency at East Carolina.
Dr. Mehta is the Medical Director of Vibrant Health of North Carolina, Tennessee Integrative Pain Institute, and TN Integrative Healthcare: Musculoskeletal and Regenerative Center; additionally, Dr. Mehta is the attending physician at Nashville Regenerative Orthopedics. He is the 2013 recipient of the Inaugural Patient Appreciation Award at Nashville Academy of Medicine, and the 2004 Research Resident of the Year for East Carolina University. He is a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, and American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine.
Dr. Mehta has extensive experience with stem cell proliferation and angiogenesis. For years he has incorporated Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy into his integrative approach for pain management and rehabilitation, and he has also preformed the following procedures fluoroscopically: Translaminar Cervical and Lumbar ESI, Transforaminal Lumbar ESI, Lumbar Selective Nerve Root Blocks, Stellate Ganglion Blocks, Lumbar Sympathetic Blocks, SIJ injections, Hip Joint Injections, Piriformis Injections, Cervical and Lumbar Facet Joint Injections, Medial Branch Nerve Blocks, Radiofrequency Ablation of Medial Branch Nerve, Discography, Percutaneous Disc Decompression/ Intradiscal Injections, Spinal Cord Stimulator Lead Trial, PRP/ Regenerative Matrix/ Regenerative Medicine Procedures for Spine, Peripheral Joints, and Nerves, P-Shot/O-shot, Juvederm Anti-aging, and Ozone Injection Therapy.
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Clinical Trial – Hyperbaric Oxygenation in Athletes: Standard Versus Low Pressure
Currently, Hyperbaric Oxigen (HBO) is a widely used treatment for several conditions. There
are 14 indications for HBO, officially recognized by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical
Society (UHMS), but research is discovering other interesting applications.
HBO plays an important role in enhancing antioxidant defense mechanisms by increasing radical
oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide species (NOS). This controlled oxidative stress has
been shown to stop the vicious circle of inflammation – damage – hypoxia already seen in
several diseases. Increased neoangiogenesis has been demonstrated at pressures of 2
atmospheres absolute (ATA), while effects helping ischemic tissues need pressures between 2.5
and 2.8 ATA to develop.
During sports activities, metabolism generates waste products – mostly CO2, lactic acid, but
also ROS. HBO could be useful in modulating antioxidant mechanisms and helping cells in the
recovery after training and sportive competitions.
The authors hypothesize that:
1. HBO can reduce oxidative stress in healthy professional athletes
2. HBO can ameliorate the lactic acid clearance after a maximal exercise
3. HBO at low pressures (L-HBO at 1.45 ATA) is at least comparable to conventional HBO (at
2.5 ATA) in reducing oxidative stress and ameliorating lactic acid clearance after a
maximal exercise.
The Authors will include healthy athletes. These will be randomly assigned to a control
group, a L-HBO group, or a HBO group. The Authors will assess oxidative stress changes and
lactic acid clearance (testing it after a maximal exercise) before and after 20 L-HBO/HBO
treatments, and after 2 months after the end of treatments.
Clinical Trial – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Compared to Pharmaceutical in Fibromyalgia With Emotional Trauma
The investigators have previously studied the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) as
a treatment for Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) in a prospective, active control, crossover
clinical trial. The results demonstrated significant amelioration of all FMS symptoms, with
significant improvement in life quality; furthermore, the investigators were able to
demonstrate significant neuroplasticity on SPECT imaging, with a decrease of the
hyperactivity in posterior regions and elevation of the reduced activity in frontal areas.
In this study, the investigators intend to both repeat and expand the investigator’s previous
findings, treating FMS patients with history of emotional trauma with HBOT, while performing
an extensive of evaluation both before and after treatment.
In the current study, the investigators plan to compare HBOT to current standard of care of
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