HBOT Conversations:
Elena Schertz & Tom Fox
(Part 5) – COVID

Elena Schertz, NP and Tom Fox of Extivita-RTP in Raleigh, NC join us in a 5-part series to discuss the extraordinary healing they’ve witnessed through the God-given natural therapy of HBOT. This is Part 2, with a focus on how Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is helping people of all ages heal from concussions.

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.

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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

Elena Schertz, NP - Clinic Manager at Extivita RTP

Elena attained her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Michigan State University and received her Masters of Science in Nursing from Simmons University in Boston, MA. She has been practicing integrative medicine since 2010 and is currently working on her certification in functional medicine from the Institute of Functional Medicine.

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.

 

Elena Schertz, NP

Thomas M. Fox, MAS,MS, CHT - Safety Director at Extivita RTP

Tom is the Research Physiologist for the Hyperbaric Institute for Research and Training, a division of Island Hyperbaric Centre in Pincourt QC. He has worked in the field of Clinical Hyperbaric Oxygen for the last 30 years. During this time, he has been intimately involved with the implementation and the development of the US Army’s Clinical Hyperbaric Service at Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center. He has provided contract hyperbaric services since 1997. Prior to accepting his current position in Quebec, Canada, Mr. Fox served as the Chief of the Atmospherics Branch of the U.S. Army School of Aviation Medicine, Fort Rucker Alabama. In this capacity, he was responsible for hyperbaric/ hypobaric operations and training of US and NATO aviators, flight surgeons and flight medics. Mr. Fox is a senior army aviator and flew twelve years as a Medical Evacuation Pilot for the US Army.

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

Clinical Trial – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Mild Cognitive Impairment

Dementia is a very frequent cognitive disorder among elderly individuals. Its prevalence is
about 15-20% of the population over the age of 65. The most common forms of dementia among
the elderly demented patients are Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (prevalence of 70%) and Vascular
dementia (VD) (prevalence of about 30-40%).There is also a high rate (about 40%) of
coexisting of AD and VD among the dementia patients, defined as mixed dementia.

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a pre-dementia phase of cognitive decline. It is also
considered as a prodromal phase of both VD and AD. Its basic clinical features include:
cognitive concern, reflecting a change in cognition, reported by the patient or informant
(i.e., historical or observed evidence of decline over time), with objective evidence of
impairment in one or more cognitive domains (i.e., by formal cognitive testing), as well as
preservation of independence in functional abilities and not being demented (i.e., no
significant impairment social or occupational functioning).

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been investigated for treatment of numerous diseases for
more than 300 years. The principal effect of HBOT is increasing the solubility of oxygen in
plasma to a level sufficient to support tissues with minimal oxygen supply carried on by
hemoglobin. Clinical studies published this year present convincing evidence that hyperbaric
oxygen therapy (HBOT) can be the coveted neurotherapeutic method for brain repair. Thus, it
seems that HBOT might be an efficient and clinically feasible method capable of increasing
tissue/cellular oxygenation and effectively evoking neuroplasticity in the chronically
vascular-lesioned areas during the post microvascular lesion phase.

This is a prospective, randomized, control crossed over, study evaluating the effect of HBOT
in patients suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment and Vascular Subcortical Ischemia.