Pure oxygen may prove to be promising treatment for cerebral palsy patients

By Laura Vogltanz

Published on April 25, 2006

Dr. Daniel Lacey, the pediatric neurologist leading the study says traditional medicines don't have a lot to offer kids with cerebral palsy. The theory for this study is that by getting oxygen deep into the brain, it will stimulate or awaken damaged or dormant brain cells that affect cerebral palsy patients.

To do this, children sit in a chamber the size of a hospital room and wear a plastic hood over their heads. The atmospheric pressure inside the chamber is raised, imitating the experience of scuba diving, and pure oxygen is delivered to the child.

The study will measure half of the children receiving 100 percent oxygen and the other half receiving 21 percent oxygen -- the equivalent of room air. Researchers will look at the children's motor functions when the 40 treatments are completed and again three and six months afterward.

If this study, scheduled to be completed in 2009, shows the therapy is effective, it could help convince insurance companies and the government to cover the cost, which averages about $100 per treatment.

Cerebral palsy affects two out of every 1,000 children born in the United States. Children with cerebral palsy have limited motor skills, learning disabilities, rigid muscles, and other health problems.

Comment on this article →