Annie's incredible cognitive progress thanks to the hyperbaric chamber
In 2010, Dr. Carol Henricks published a very interesting case study regarding the progress of Annie, a 17-year-old patient. Despite the age and severity of her neurological sequelae, the hyperbaric chamber sessions were able to greatly improve the adolescent's progress. Below is a description of her progress, as well as some of her drawings.
Annie before her sessions in the hyperbaric chamber
A difficult birth
First, during her pregnancy, Annie's mother noticed that the baby was no longer moving. After a long trip to the hospital, an emergency cesarean was performed. The doctors then noted a lack of amniotic fluid, and once the expulsion was complete, little Annie required resuscitation.
This difficult birth was compounded by two misfortunes: the child suffered from microcephaly, which was probably the result of an undetected infection during pregnancy. And the medical team had made a serious mistake: the endotracheal tube, which was supposed to help Annie breathe, was placed in her esophagus!
Serious neurological after-effects
Since then, Annie has had severe mental retardation. At the age of 19 months, she was able to babble and pronounce a few words. She was able to take her first steps without help, but that same day, fate continued to haunt her.
After a feverish episode due to strep throat, Annie suffered convulsions. These left her with brain damage. The child no longer babbled, spoke or walked until the age of 3.
Willingly or not, Annie continues to grow and develop at her own pace:
- At 5 years old, she uttered her first sentence.
- At age 7, brain imaging showed diffuse cortical atrophy.
- At the age of 8, she began to learn English (her native language is Spanish).
- At 9 years old, Annie learns to be clean.
- At 10 years old, she sleeps alone in her bed.
- Between the ages of 13 and 14, she begins to understand cause and effect relationships.
Treating the brain with the hyperbaric chamber
Annie was 17 years old when her mother contacted Dr. Henricks. Her primary goal was to improve her daughter's dysarthria through hyperbaric oxygen therapy . A personalized protocol was then created and the hyperbaric chamber dives began!
What progress for young Annie?
In his case study, the doctor notes that Annie carried her coloring books and crayons everywhere with her. The pages were all colored the same way: seemingly random scribbles of different colors:
After 5 sessions in the hyperbaric chamber, the doctor and Annie's mother noticed some changes. Annie's lines were more concentrated in certain areas of the drawing:
Two weeks later, Annie colored a picture for the very first time. We can notice that Eeyore's body and tail are colored the same color:
After 5 weeks of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, we see that Annie takes into account the borders of the drawings and is careful not to go beyond them:
Finally, 6 months after the start of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, her coloring abilities were stable and she had not regressed:
In addition to these graphical improvements, here is the progress observed by the doctor and Annie's mother:
- She speaks more clearly and can be understood by foreigners.
- Now she can dance. Before therapy, Annie was too stiff and mechanical.
- She sees more details at a distance.
- She has become more independent.
- She now tries to take care of herself instead of waiting for her mother to take care of her.
- She just started brushing her hair.
- She manages her menstrual periods and takes care of her clothes.
- Academically, she is making progress in "reading readiness" and her mother is hopeful that Annie will learn to read one day.
- She is able to identify letters and numbers and can "connect the dots."
- His computer skills continue to improve.
- Annie usually takes the initiative to explore her environment and learn how to do things.
- She “anticipates” and plans things.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Neuroplasticity
Over the past decade, several high-quality scientific studies have demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy may induce neuroplasticity. This ability allows the brain to recover and restructure itself after cognitive impairment or injury.
In this case study, despite the lack of brain imaging, we can assume that the use of the hyperbaric chamber did indeed stimulate neuroplasticity.
Moreover, young Annie was able to make remarkable progress despite the delay of several years between her brain injuries and the implementation of this therapy.
How does a session in a hyperbaric chamber take place?
Below, I offer you a short video to show you concretely the course of a session (which is also called " diving ") in a hyperbaric chamber. Subtitles are available for the hearing impaired.