The Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Aerobic and Anaerobic Physical Fitness
Description:
In recent years, several options for physical performance enhancement by increasing blood
oxygen content were explored. One option is increasing the number of red blood cells by blood
transfusions. Another option is using the erythropoietin hormone. These methods showed an
effective increase of maximal oxygen consumption rate (VO2MAX) by 10%. However, due to their
inherent risks, the international sports associations banned their uses. A third option of
training in high altitude environments, but this option was never proved to be effective.
Another strategy would be increasing the blood oxygen content by increasing the plasma
dissolved oxygen concentration. This would only be possible using hyperbaric oxygen therapy
-which includes inhaling 100% oxygen in a pressure higher than the normal atmospheric
pressure.
Previous evidence showed hyperbaric oxygen can enhance aerobic and anaerobic performance
during the exposure. These studies evaluated the effect during a single hyperbaric oxygen
exposure. The effect of continuous exposure of hyperbaric oxygen on performance was never
evaluated.
The study is designed as a randomized controlled study aiming to evaluate the therapeutic
effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on the aerobic and anaerobic performance.
After signing an informed consent form, patients will be randomized into 2 groups: treatment
and control group. Patients will be invited for baseline evaluations. All patients would be
evaluated 2 times – at baseline and after 2 months of follow up, The evaluation will include
physical examination, VO2MAX, muscle biopsy for mitochondrial function, aerobic function
measurements, cognitive assessment, brain MRI, brain EEG.
Protocols:
Treatment: Patients will receive 40 daily sessions, 5 days/week, 60 minutes each with 5
minutes air break every 30 minutes, 100% oxygen at 2 atmospheres (ATA).
Control: Patients will receive 40 daily sessions, 5 days/week, 60 minutes each with 5 minutes
air break every 30 minutes, 21% oxygen (air) at 1.01 ATA.
Upon completion of the study, control group would be offered to crossover and complete
additional 40 sessions of 100% oxygen at 2 ATA. A third evaluation would be performed in case
patients will complete the protocol.
Condition:
Healthy
Treatment:
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Start Date:
May 15, 2018
Sponsor:
Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center
For More Information:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03524989