HBOT Conversations:
Elena Schertz & Tom Fox
(Part 5) – COVID
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 – Healing Heart Disease with HBOT
Part 4 – Cancer & Cerebral Palsy
In this final episode, we discuss COVID, and how long-haulers are finally finding relief in Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Host di Girolamo starts the conversation explaining that people who suffer from brain fog, oxygen shortages, and fatigue are discovering that HBOT is providing them relief. Tom chimes in that early oxygen delivery and pre-hospitalization was something the Italians saw in COVID as it progressed, and they discovered the role of HBOT in the acute care stage of COVID. The Italians witnessed patients who were heading in the wrong direction being released from the hospital after only 5 hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments. The role of hyperbaric oxygen in COVID cases is incredible. Tom reminds us that only about 1,400 of the 6,500 hospital in the US have HBOT chambers, meaning that it is not a standard of care.
Studies out of Britain state ten HBOT treatments are ideal for COVID patients to witness a complete turn-around, and they get their lives back in two weeks. Tom explains that 40% of their patients are long-haul COVID and they’re coming to a HBOT clinic because there’s no other option. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy DOES return a COVID patient back to their baseline.
Chronic, or long-haul COVID patients (someone who has been dealing with symptoms for months or years) will likely need more treatments, but there is still so much hope. Elena says that the long-haul COVID patients who have come to see her have all improved. Elena has seen some long-haul COVID patients get better in as little as 4 treatments, and then there are some patients who need 40 treatments. Just like how everyone responds to COVID differently, the same goes for HBOT to treat COVID. There’s no magic number; but if you get in quicker then it’s more likely you won’t need as many treatments. In the end, it’s important to simply know that HBOT hands-down does help COVID patients, and it’s worth a try.
“Elena states, “I want to say it’s kind of easily fixed, you know, the fatigue. I’ve seen it over and over again. Until somebody comes in and disputes that or I see that, then I’ll keep saying, yeah, it really is very effective. I’ve seen it 100% of the time. It really is 100%”
And then there are the vaccine injuries. Tom stresses that he believes in the power of vaccines, he his definitely not an anti-vaxxer. But, when he looks at what’s going on in the world today it’s concerning. If you were to document a vaccine injury right now, it’s almost like the kiss of death to anybody that reaches out to challenge vaccines.
“We’re downplaying the VAER system. You know, in the current vaccine, with the number of reactions that we’ve seen with the current vaccine, previous vaccines would have been taken off the market.
HBOT News appreciates Tom and Elena joining us in our Conversations podcast and invites you to check out their clinic, Extivita-RTP if you are ever in the Raleigh, NC area.
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
Combining infliximab, anti-MAP and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for resistant fistulizing Crohn’s disease.
Fistulizing Crohn’s disease (CD) presents a therapeutic challenge as fistulae are notoriously difficult to heal. Mycobacterium avium ss paratuberculosis (MAP) treatment in CD is gaining attention. We evaluated healing of CD fistula(e) using a novel combination therapy. Nine consecutive patients who failed to heal fistulae on conventional treatment including anti-TNF, were treated with at least three doses of infliximab, 18-30 courses of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and anti-MAP antibiotics comprising rifabutin, clarithromycin and clofazimine. All patients achieved complete healing of fistulae by 6-28 weeks and follow-up for mean 18 months.
Clinical Trial – Dexmedetomidine Versus Magnesium Sulphate for Caesarean Delivery
Regional anesthesia has become more popular in cesarean deliveries because most of the
parturients prefer being awake during the birth process. In addition, regional anesthesia may
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enough for an effective postoperative analgesia and hemodynamic stability of the patient wich
is crucial during cesarean section. So far many adjuvants have been used to augment the
analgesia produced by intrathecal local anesthetics and to reduce their adverse effects .
Various intrathecal adjuvants to local anaesthetics have found to improve the quality and
extend duration of spinal block. Prolongation of duration of spinal block is desirable both
for long procedures and for postoperative pain relief. Efficacy and safty of intrathecal
magnesium as analgesic adjuvant has been tested by several clinical trails in recent
years.Antinociceptive effect of magnesium appears to be relevant for the management of
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influx in to the cell. Magnesium blocks calcium influx and non competitively antagonizes NMDA
channels. NMDA receptor signelling plays an impartent in determining the duration of acute
pain3).) addition of magnesium to spinal anaesthesia improved postoperative analgesia in
orthopedic setting. addition of intrathecal magnesium sulfate to 10 mg bupivacaine plus 25µg
fentanyl prolonged spinal anaesthesia in patients undergoing lower extremity surgery.
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beneficial actions during perioperative period. They decrease sympathetic tone with
attenuation of the neuroendocrine and haemodynamic response to anaesthesia and surgery,
reduce anaesthetic and opiod requirement, cause sedation and analgesia. Dexmedetomidine was
first introduced into clinical practice as a short term intravenous sedative in intensive
care. Like any other adjuvant dexmedetomidine is not free from adverse effects. Use of
dexmedetomidine is often associated with a decrease in heart rate and blood
pressure.Dexmedetomidine was used to enhance the analgesic property of local anaesthetics
like lidocaine bupivacaine and ropivacaine. In vivo and in vitro studies indicated that these
local anaesthetics had significant neurotoxicity. Dexmedetomidine showed protective or growth
promoting properties in tissues, including nerve cells from cortex. Intrathecal
dexmedetomidine has a neuroprotective effect similar to methylprednisolone.
The mechanism by which intrathecal alpha 2-adrenergic agonists prolong the motor and sensory
block of local anesthetics is not clear. It may be an additive or synergistic effect
secondary to the different mechanisms of action of local anesthetic and alpha 2 adrenergic
agonist. The local anesthetics act by blocking sodium channels, whereas the alpha 2
adrenergic agonist acts by binding to pre synapyic C fibre and post synaptic dorsal horn
neurons. Intrathecal alpha 2 adrenergic agonist produce analgesia by depressing the realease
of C fibre transmission by hyperpolarization of post synaptic dorsal horn neurons. Li et al
observed that Glutamate is involved in excitatory neurotransmission nociception and plays an
essential role in relaying noxious stimuli in the spinal cord. Intrathecal injection of alpha
2 adrenergic agonists produces potent antinociceptive effects by altering spinal
neurotransmitter release and effectively treats acute pain.
Efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with mild hyperthermia for improving the anti-tumour effects of carboplatin.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) on the enhancement of hyperthermic chemosensitisation to carboplatin at mild temperatures in experimental tumours. SCCVII carcinoma in C3H/He mice was used to assess tumour...