HBOT Conversations:
Laurie Anderson (Part 3)
Healing COVID with HBOT
Dr. Laurie is a Doctor of Pharmacy, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Practice Residency Program at the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Laurie spent many years in clinical practice, first as a neurosurgery clinical pharmacist at UCSF Medical Center and then as a general medicine and critical care clinical pharmacist at Duke Medical Center. For the past 14 years Dr. Laurie has been working in industry, and is currently a safety scientist in early phase drug development, designing safety strategies for First Time in Human clinical trials.
Through her own journey navigating chronic illness, Dr. Laurie has explored and embraced many forms of alternative and non-traditional medicine to support her body for healing. She has gravitated towards practitioners and modalities that treat the whole patient, with the mantra that tending to mind, body and spirit is the true key to lasting health. Over the years, Dr. Laurie has discovered that this often leads to a ‘less is more’ approach. She discovered HBOT when she was struggling to heal from COVID, and now tells anyone who will listen about the power of oxygen and pressure.
Watch the Podcast
We continue Dr. Laurie Anderson’s HBOT News Network interview, diving in deeper to discuss our veteran population, does HBOT have a therapeutic index, and what is the research telling us about the HBOT industry.
Her interview has been released as a three part series. Part 1 and Part 2 has already been released with both focusing on her HBOT journey with COVID & Lyme Disease.
In Part 3 of Laurie’s podcast the conversation shifts. It starts with the medical industry and the unfortunate “bad rap” that Hyperbaric Oxygen sometimes receives. Dr, Laurie refers to HBOT as a gift, so it’s truly unfortunate when the media focuses on the negative instead of the positive, influencing the public to not even try this life saving therapy. Research trials are discussed, including the problems that the hyperbaric industry has identified in the sham, placebo and/or control group when researchers try to mimic HBOT with little pressure and they discover that everyone starts to improve. Those of us in this industry understand and effortlessly work to enlighten others that any amount of pressure is good and therapeutic.
The topic of our US military and the high rate of suicide among our service man and women arises. Is there a solution to the veteran suicide epidemic our country is facing? It appears there is. di Girolamo speaks of Patriot Hyperbarics in Tulsa, and the success they have had treating veterans with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
“The Patriot Clinics in Tulsa treated some 500 veterans with PTSD, with donated money, donated chambers, and healed them. Most of them war-fighters, were in a bedroom, locked in the dark for years and years, like seven, ten years. And then they found Patriot Clinics and they got 40 treatments and then they got their executive function back. Some of them starting businesses. I saw videos of guys, you know, in the car on their way to the clinic on the first day and then on the 40th day, talking about their experience, it was just amazing.
There wasn’t some combined study about that. 500 souls were saved that didn’t commit suicide, they worked their way out of it.”
Dr. Laurie, who is a Doctor of Pharmacy, brings up an excellent point, and one that we’ve never discussed before on HBOT News. We know that the FDA ultimately states that oxygen is a drug, and you are required to have a prescription for it. But does Hyperbaric Oxygen have a therapeutic index like other drugs? And if so… how would a patient know they have reached the therapeutic index and how long is a patient at the therapeutic index? She explains it like this…
“If I apply this to drugs, like with a drug we would want to keep the level, generally, we try to keep the level of a drug in the blood inside the therapeutic index, right? So sometimes, depending on the half life of the drug, you can be in your therapeutic index by taking it once a day so you trickle up and down in between that therapeutic index. Some drugs have a shorter half life and you have to take it twice a day to stay in that therapeutic index.
So what keeps you in whatever is the defined therapeutic index, if that can be translated to oxygen therapy, you know, is it daily? Is it twice a day?”
di Girolamo wonders if in 20 years from now the industry will look back on this conversation and be shocked that we weren’t more focused on the therapeutic index. He stresses that the hyperbaric industry can’t even come together and decide the specific definition of hyperbaric oxygen, much less all these variables that Dr. Laurie has opened our eyes to.
Dr. Laurie ends her time here with HBOT News stressing that for her HBOT healed her during a very sick time with COVID, and it helped her with many of the Lyme Disease symptoms she struggled with for years. It worked for her, and she said it’s definitely worth a try to see if it can work for you.
Guests
Dr. Laurie Anderson, Pharm.D.
Through her own journey navigating chronic illness, Dr. Laurie has explored and embraced many forms of alternative and non-traditional medicine to support her body for healing. She has gravitated towards practitioners and modalities that treat the whole patient, with the mantra that tending to mind, body and spirit is the true key to lasting health. Over the years, Dr. Laurie has discovered that this often leads to a ‘less is more’ approach.
When not working, Dr. Laurie is an avid gardener, ballroom dancer and traveler with her husband. Remaining curious and finding joy in every day are her super powers.
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Recent HBOT News
Clinical Trial – Intrathecal Neostigmine for Prevention of PDPH
Neuraxial blocks continue to be the cornerstone of anesthesia and postoperative analgesia for
normal vaginal delivery and elective caesarean section due to its approved safety and
efficiency for decades. Post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) is still one of the most common
complications of neuraxial anesthetic techniques. The headache could be severe and limit the
activities of the new mother to care for her baby, prolong hospital stay.
PDPH is defined as a headache that develops within five days of dural puncture and can’t be
attributed to any other types of headache and mostly is postural in character.
Neostigmine methylsulfate is a synthetic carbamic acid ester which reversibly inhibits the
enzyme Acetylcholine esterase (AChE) that makes more Acetylcholine molecules available at
cholinergic receptors. Neostigmine is used in anesthesia mainly as a reversal for
non-depolarizing neuromuscular agents.
Intrathecal (IT) neostigmine was tried as an adjuvant to local anesthetics in IT block for
elective cesarean sections to decrease local anesthetic consumption and to prolong
postoperative analgesia. Side effects of IT neostigmine are dose-dependent with doses more
than 25 µg especially nausea and vomiting and could be decreased by increasing the baricities
of the local anesthetic solutions and by early head up position after IT injection. However,
its effect on PDPH was not investigated before in literature.
Parturients will be randomly assigned into one of two groups: the intervention group will
receive 20 µg with IT Bupivacaine and the control group will receive an equivalent volume of
dextrose 5% with the IT Bupivacaine.
The objective of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IT neostigmine
as an adjuvant to bupivacaine in reducing the incidence and severity of post-dural puncture
headache in parturients scheduled for an elective cesarean section.
Evidence brief: hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for traumatic brain injury and/or post-traumatic stress disorder.
This report is a product of the VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program. The purpose is to provide “timely and accurate syntheses of targeted healthcare topics. to improve the health and healthcare of Veterans”. The authors have made a comprehensive search and analysis of the literature and make recommendations to assist clinicians in dealing with veterans suffering from either traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The report is timely and of great potential impact given the vigorous and lengthy debate among hyperbaric physicians and lay people determined to find an answer for the large numbers of veterans deeply affected with some combination of PTSD and post-concussion dysfunction.
Clinical Trial – Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
The study assesses the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of
inflammatory bowel disease in children.