HBOT Conversations:
Elena Schertz & Tom Fox (Part 4) – Cancer & Cerebral Palsy
Elena Schetz, NP is the nurse practitioner, and Tom Fox is the Safety Director at Extivita-RTP. Extivita-RTP offers a positive environment for healing, and they encourage anyone seeking a better quality of life to come visit them and experience for themselves the wonder of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Watch the Podcast
In a Special 5-part series with Extivita’s Nurse Practitioner, Elena Schertz, and Safety Director, Tom Fox, we dive into the extraordinary powers of HBOT, and the healing they have witnessed for a variety of conditions. The following segments prelude this episode:
Part 1 – HBOT for PTSD (veteran focus)
Part 2 – Concussions & HBOT
Part 3 – Heart Disease & HBOT
In Part 4 of 5, we discuss two topics — cancer & cerebral palsy.
Let’s start with cancer. Elena Schertz says cancer patients have come through the doors at Extivita many times, looking for a “Hail Mary”. They’ve done the chemo and radiation and they are now at the end of their rope, and don’t know what else to do. Elena believes that when it comes to cancer you should throw everything at it, monotherapy is not the answer. In the end, does it really matter which therapy worked?! As long as it works!! She will often discuss diet changes and recommend IV therapies like high dose vitamin C, Pulse Electromagnetic Therapy (PEMF – BEMER) along with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Elena explains that she’s seen impressive results using pro-oxidative treatments to help the patient kill cancer.
“I’ve seen patients who have reported to me that they have had their the tumor size shrink during the course of maybe 20 sessions.”
Elena reminds viewers that radiation necrosis is one of the covered indications by the FDA, so treatment is typically reimbursed by insurance. Since radiation kills the bad cells, and the good, hyperbarics can help the patient recover from radiation therapy by restoring oxygen to the good cells that were damaged in radiation field. HBOT can also be used in conjunction with chemotherapy to ease chemotherapy side effects (especially brain fog).
Tom explains that he has seen patients gain improvement in their biomarkers for cancer as a direct effect of receiving HBOT. And he has seen patients come in with brain cancer and glioblastoma, that were given nine months or three months to live. One particular patient comes to mind who Tom treated with HBOT and is now living 2 years post diagnosis and was only given months to live; HBOT was one of many therapies the patient has been using. It’s important to understand that its the incorporation of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy that makes the tumor happy. Happy tumors are calm, while aggravated tumors grow. By giving the tumor oxygen under pressure, it interrupts the metabolism of the tumor. He further explains that typically the inside of a tumor is hypoxic (oxygen starved) so by adding oxygen to the tumor, it will counteract the growth of the tumor.
Tom explains that it’s important to understand the role of oxygen in healing, and he recommends the Flexner Report to those who want to know more on medical education and emphasizing the science.
Tom says he would tell doctors & healers, “Hey, listen, practice your art. Practice the art of healing. Use every tool available to you and you’ll see outcome, especially when you use and look at the role of oxygen in healing.”
In turn, host, Edward di Girolamo, pointed out that the Research Rundowns by HBOT News are great for better understanding the research behind HBOT in particular, because we try and point out if there’s a conflict of interest to the researchers and to the viewers/readers.
“There’s a lot of good science out there and it’s just being ignored or when it’s summarized by somebody that may be paid off because of a conflict of interest, they conclude something that’s completely inaccurate, and that’s what we try to point out in our Research Rundowns.”
This leads into a brief discussion on Cerebral Palsy and universal healthcare, as Tom highlights some research that falls right in line with what Edward mentioned. Tom tells his personal story about his two step-sons who were born with Cerebral Palsy and how Hyperbarics helped them tremendously in gaining a better quality of life.
The CP twins started receiving treatment at age 4. One never went back to a wheelchair after 24 HBOT treatments, while the other (who was more severely affected by CP) gained truck control and was now feeding himself. Today, at 27 years old, they have both had well over 1,500 HBOT treatments. One graduated from college and the other works in community awareness and teaches English as a second language.
Tom ponders whether cerebral palsy could be eliminated if a child is treated with HBOT extremely early in life, would it repair the oxygen deprived damage done to the brain at birth? He says there are many physicians who think it would, and would ease the impact of CP on medicine and society.
Guests
Elena Schertz, NP - Clinic Manager at Extivita RTP
Elena worked as a nurse in the pediatric oncology, cardiac, and surgical units at UNC hospitals for 15 years before deciding to work in integrative medicine. After years of working as a nurse, she decided to pursue her graduate degree, completing her masters with honors. She is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Elena’s passion for integrative medicine comes from her knowledge that the mind, body and psych/social/spiritual systems are not separate. The focus of Elena’s practice is to approach each of her patient’s healing process from the perspective of the whole, supported and grounded in safety and evidence-based medicine. She also maintains close consultative relationships with experts in the field to promote and enhance wellness for her patients. Elena joined the wonderful Extivita team in March 2019 and is thrilled to be a part of advancing health and wellness through hyperbaric medicine.
Thomas M. Fox, MAS,MS, CHT - Safety Director at Extivita RTP
Tom joined the Extivita team in 2022 as the Safety Director, helping Extivita to maintain a healthy and safe environment for exceptional patient care.
Extivita-RTP – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Clinic
2012-D TW Alexander Drive
Durham, NC 27709
919-354-3775
919-354-3776
contact@extivita.org
https://www.extivita.org/
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Recent HBOT News
Cerebral hypoperfusion in autism spectrum disorder
Cerebral hypoperfusion, or insufficient blood flow in the brain, occurs in many areas of the brain in patients diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Hypoperfusion was demonstrated in the brains of individuals with ASD when compared to normal healthy control brains either using positron emission tomography (PET) or single‑photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). The affected areas include, but are not limited to the: prefrontal, frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal cortices; thalami; basal ganglia; cingulate cortex; caudate nucleus; the limbic system including the hippocampal area; putamen; substantia nigra; cerebellum; and associative cortices. Moreover, correlations between symptom scores and hypoperfusion in the brains of individuals diagnosed with an ASD were found indicating that the greater the autism symptom pathology, the more significant the cerebral hypoperfusion or vascular pathology in the brain. Evidence suggests that brain inflammation and vascular inflammation may explain a part of the hypoperfusion. There is also evidence of a lack of normal compensatory increase in blood flow when the subjects are challenged with a task. Some studies propose treatments that can address the hypoperfusion found among individuals diagnosed with an ASD, bringing symptom relief to some extent. This review will explore the evidence that indicates cerebral hypoperfusion in ASD, as well as the possible etiological aspects, complications, and treatments.
Clinical Trial – Spinal Anesthesia in Caesarean Section
Spinal anesthesia is a safe technique, widely used and tested in the gynecological field, so
as to be considered the first choice technique in cesarean section, which allows to quickly
obtain a valid sensor and motor block. Bupivacaine is one of the most widely used drug for
obtaining spinal anesthesia in pregnant women undergoing caesarean section. Bupivacaine is a
local anesthetic available as a racemic mixture of its two enantiomers, the R (+)-
dextrobupivacaine and the S (-) – levobupivacaine, whose clinical use is widely validated.
Racemic bupivacaine is available as a simple or hyperbaric solution, the latter being the
most commonly used for spinal anesthesia. Levobupivacaine, which is the pure levorotatory
enantiomer of racemic bupivacaine, is a slightly hypobaric solution compared to liquor and
has shown less heart and nerve toxicity, probably due to its ability to bind proteins more
rapidly, and a greater selectivity towards the sensory component compared to Bupivacaine,
presents action and effects better predictable. Its baricity would also offer the advantage
of providing a less sensitive block to the position.
Hypotension is one of the most common complications of spinal anesthesia and is particularly
relevant in caesarean section because, in addition to the adverse effects on the parturient,
it can have repercussions on the fetus through a reduction of placental perfusion.
Some studies have showed a similar incidence of hypotension in patients treated with
bupivacaine compared to those treated with levobupivacaine, while others assert an
equivalence between the two drugs. In most studies, however, a significantly lower incidence
of hypotension and a greater hemodynamic stability were reported in pregnant patients
undergoing spinal anesthesia by caesarean section with levobupivacaine.
Being both hyperbaric bupivacaine and levobupivacaine routinely used at the "G. Rodolico"
Universitary Hospital of Catania for the spinal anesthesia of pregnant women undergoing
caesarean section and being their use decided exclusively at discretion of the treating
anesthesiologist, in the light of the discrepant data in the literature about the incidence
of hypotension with the two drugs, the main objective of this observational study is to
evaluate the hemodynamic effects mediated by levobupivacaine on pregnant women subjected to
elective cesarean section and to compare them with those mediated by hyperbaric bupivacaine
in an historical court of pregnant women subjected to caesarean section in the period between
April 2017 and April 2018. The hemodynamic parameters will be monitored in real time with a
non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring system (EV1000® platform + Clearsight® system – Edwards
LifeSciences), routinely used in the "G. Rodolico" Universitary Hospital of Catania, allowing
to obtain greater accuracy and veracity of the results compared to previous studies conducted
on such anesthetics.
Role of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Trauma Care
Article from Bio Spectrum Media discusses how technological advancements have made the use of HBOT more efficient in Trauma Care: Head Trauma is one of the major causes of death and disabilities across the world. This can be caused due a contusion (bruise),...