Хбот: Guardians of Health for "Children of the Stars"

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (Хбот) helps "children of the stars" through multiple mechanisms: it optimizes brain cell energy metabolism, enhances mitochondrial function, improves cerebral blood supply and neural repair, and regulates gut microbiota and neuroinflammation linked to autism. These combined effects contribute to improving core symptoms in some children, such as cognition, социальное взаимодействие, and behavior, making HBOT an internationally recognized comprehensive treatment approach.

World Autism Awareness Day

Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental condition primarily influenced by genetic factors, with interactions involving environmental, neurobiological, immune system, and psychosocial elements.

1. Let’s Pay Attention to Children with Autism

April 2 marks World Autism Awareness Day. Lele is a child with autism, poetically referred to as a "child of the stars." Autism makes Lele’s world unique—like a solitary star shining alone in the night sky. It brings many challenges: he avoids eye contact, often retreats to corners, and responds to the outside world with silence. Yet, these wounded angels need even more understanding and care.

2. Causes and Key Symptoms of Autism

The core symptoms of "children of the stars" fall into three main categories:

Social Communication Deficits
Avoiding eye contact, lack of response to calls, limited interest in social interactions, and difficulty understanding others’ emotions and thoughts.

Restricted Interests
Excessive focus or fixation on specific objects, such as cardboard boxes or cosmetic bottles.

Repetitive and Stereotyped Behaviors
Tendency to engage in rigid, repetitive routines and adhere strictly to daily rituals.

Early intervention before age six is crucial for children showing signs of autism. Seeing Lele’s struggles, his parents sought professional guidance and learned about hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a potential treatment.

3. Multiple Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure or highly concentrated oxygen in a pressurized chamber above atmospheric pressure. Key benefits include:

Increasing blood oxygen levels and diffusion distance, thereby improving brain cell metabolism and aiding the recovery of damaged neural cells.

Promoting nerve repair, exerting antibacterial effects, accelerating wound healing, and regulating immune function, with additional general health benefits.

For children with autism, HBOT helps regulate the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), improving language, behavior, and social adaptability.

4. Special Significance of HBOT in Autism Treatment

Autism is a complex condition where severity, duration, and timing of intervention influence outcomes. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers unique advantages:

Addressing potential gut microbiota imbalances in autistic children by promoting intestinal motility and inhibiting anaerobic bacteria growth.

Reducing vascular adhesion factor expression, mitigating brain injury, and accelerating capillary regeneration and collateral circulation to enhance cerebral blood supply.

Enhancing mitochondrial enzyme activity in brain cells, boosting ATP production, and optimizing cerebral metabolism—particularly relevant for children with mitochondrial dysfunction.

Increasing cerebral blood flow, improving neural function in relevant brain regions, promoting neurodevelopment and tissue repair, and alleviating autism-related symptoms.

Over 90% of children undergoing consistent HBOT show noticeable improvement. As an effective treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers new hope for recovery. It stands as a guardian for "children of the stars" like Lele, supporting their journey toward a healthier and brighter future.

Article sourced from the WeChat official account of the 940th Hospital of the Joint Logistics Support Force.