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
Executive summary: The Brain Injury and Mechanism of Action of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Persistent Post-Concussive Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) (BIMA) Study.
The Brain Injury and Mechanism of Action of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Persistent Post-Concussive Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) (BIMA) study, sponsored by the Department of Defense and held under an investigational new drug application by the Office of the Army Surgeon General, is one of the largest and most complex clinical trials of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) for post-concussive symptoms (PCS) in U.S. military service members.
Hyperbaric oxygen for mild traumatic brain injury: Design and baseline summary.
The Brain Injury and Mechanisms of Action of Hyperbaric Oxygen for Persistent Post-Concussive Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) (BIMA) study, sponsored by the Department of Defense, is a randomized double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial that has a longer duration of follow-up and more comprehensive assessment battery compared to recent HBO₂ studies. BIMA randomized 71 participants from September 2012 to May 2014. Primary results are expected in 2017. Randomized military personnel received hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) at 1.5 atmospheres absolute (ATA) or sham chamber sessions at 1.2 ATA, air, for 60 minutes daily for 40 sessions. Outcomes include neuropsychological, neuroimaging, neurological, vestibular, autonomic function, electroencephalography, and visual systems evaluated at baseline, immediately following intervention at 13 weeks and six months with self-report symptom and quality of life questionnaires at 12 months, 24 months and 36 months. Characteristics include: median age 33 years (range 21-53); 99% male; 82% Caucasian; 49% diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder; 28% with most recent injury three months to one year prior to enrollment; 32% blast injuries; and 73% multiple injuries. This manuscript describes the study design, outcome assessment battery, and baseline characteristics. Independent of a therapeutic role of HBO₂, results of BIMA will aid understanding of mTBI.
Neuropsychological assessments in a hyperbaric trial of post-concussive symptoms.
Results of studies addressing the effect of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on symptoms and neuropsychological assessments are mixed regarding cognitive deficits in these populations. Neuropsychological assessments were compared between U.S. military service members with mTBI only (n=36) vs. those with mTBI÷ PTSD (n=35) from a randomized interventional study of mTBI participants with persistent post-concussive symptoms (PCS). The mTBI group endorsed worse symptoms than published norms on PCS, PTSD and pain scales (⟩50% abnormal on Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI), PTSD Checklist-Civilian, McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form) and some quality of life domains. Worse symptom reporting was found in the mTBI÷ PTSD group compared to mTBI (e.g., mean NSI total score in mTBI 27.5 (SD=12.7), mTBI÷ PTSD 39.9 (SD=13.6), p⟨0.001). The mTBI÷PTSD group performed worse than mTBI on the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale digit span (mean difference -1.5, 95% CI[-2.9,-0.1], p=0.04) and symbol search (mean difference -1.5, 95% CI[-2.7,-0.2], p=0.03) and Grooved Pegboard (dominant hand mean difference -7.0, 95% CI[-11.5,-2.4], p=0.003; non-dominant mean difference -9.8, 95% CI[-14.9,-4.7], p⟨0.001). Differences were detected in ANAM simple reaction time (p=0.04) and mathematical processing (p=0.03) but not verbal fluency or visuospatial memory assessments. Results indicate increased symptom severity and some cognitive deficits in mTBI÷ PTSD compared to mTBI alone.