Re: Spinal Cord Injuries

Jerry W. Decker ( (no email) )
Wed, 09 Jun 1999 00:29:45 -0500

Hi Justin et al!

I forgot to provide information about what is a hyperbaric chamber;
http://www.marketnet.com/mktnet/wound/hbo2.html

The hyperbaric oxygen therapy process Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy is
administered in an air-filled multiplace (multiple patient) chamber in
which patients breathe 100 percent oxygen at greater than one atmosphere
of pressure using a mask or hood. This increases the level of oxygen
delivered to the tissues and augments wound healing and repair.

The multiplace chamber, located at the Institue for Exercise and
Environmental Medicine at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, allows
complex medical care to be provided in the hyperbaric environment, and
enables more patients to be treated at one time, improving efficiency.
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recommended cost per treatment;
http://www.hyperbaricmedicine.org/breaking_news.htm

Under the proposed fee schedule, hospital reimbursement (technical
component, does not include physician reimbursement) for hyperbaric
oxygen therapy will be $134.27 per treatment.

We feel that this rate is well below the typical cost of providing HBO
in a hospital setting and that HCFA used flawed methodology in
calculating the reimbursement rate.
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I don't have the reference at the moment, but I have read where excess
oxygen can cause blindness and other problems. As I recall it came from
a book where experiments were done with pregnant women who had a balloon
device placed over their stomach filled with high pressure oxygen.

The idea being that the oxygen would go through the navel and into the
developing fetus. Sure enough the children born from this experiment
were geniuses.

They found that excessive exposures or concentrations caused blindness
in some of the children born using this technique, though they retained
their propensity for genius. I have the book here somewhere with the
details. So nothing is without risk.

--            Jerry Wayne Decker  /   jdecker@keelynet.com         http://keelynet.com   /  "From an Art to a Science"      Voice : (214) 324-8741   /   FAX :  (214) 324-3501   KeelyNet - PO BOX 870716 - Mesquite - Republic of Texas - 75187