Could Dementia and CTE be Prevented with Oxygen Therapy?

When brains get deprived of oxygen, during sleep apnea or trauma, dementia and/or neurological sequelae may ensue.

For years I’ve suggested giving oxygen at night to those athletes at risk of CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and those at high risk for dementia and Alzheimers. Oxygen at high concentrations have been found to help wounds heal, and why should a vulnerable organ fight for oxygen. Give the brain what it needs.

Now a study from Sydney University reports loud snoring could be an early warning sign for dementia and memory issues.

Those who have airway obstruction will make noise when they sleep. Those with obstructive sleep apnea, inability to breath during sleep due to airway obstruction by fat, large tonsils, large posterior tongue and other issues, may in response snore loudly.

Researchers found those who had sleep apnea had reduced thickness in the temporal lobes, memory centers of the brain which also are integral in speech processing and abstract thinking.  When memory tests were given, those with these changes scored poorly.

Study authors suspect that older people should therefore be screened for obstructive sleep apnea.  Currently we screen those who are overweight, fatigued, or hypertensive, but maybe we should screen all seniors?  Personally, I feel we should intervene sooner, such as middle age, if we want to ward of dementia early.

Last year we learned of a two-year old near-drowning victim, who was submerged for nearly 15 minutes and sustained brain-damaged, surprisingly has “minimal” deficits after given extensive oxygen therapy.

In February 2016, Eden Carlson climbed through a baby gate while her mother was showering and fell into the family pool. Her mother performed CPR and medical personnel worked to revive her for hours. They succeeded, but she had suffered cardiac arrest and brain damage. Upon discharge from the hospital 48 days later, Eden had difficulty speaking, walking and responding to her family.

Her medical team then tried oxygen treatments twice a day in 45 minute sessions.  These were “normobaric” oxygen treatments, or oxygen at the concentration of one atmosphere (sea level). Then three weeks later she was moved to New Orleans for “hyperbaric” oxygen treatments, or breathing 100% oxygen in a chamber greater than atmospheric pressure.

After ten sessions her mother reported “near normal” activity with doctors finding only “minimal damage” on her MRI scan.

An MRI scan 162 days after the incident showed that the child still has mild residual brain injury but the cortical and white matter atrophy she suffered was nearly completely reversed. (Medical Gas Research)

According to NYDailyNews, the cortical and white matter atrophy (thinning) almost completely reversed.

This raises the question, should oxygen therapy, either normobaric or hyperbaric, be instituted immediately after injury (near drowning, concussion, infection, etc.) and chronically for those at higher risk of dementia (diabetics, those with heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and stroke victims)?

Athletes who sustain multiple concussions are at high risk of developing CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.  This progressive, degenerative disease of the brain is also found in veterans and those who have sustained repeated head trauma.  Symptoms include mood disorders, paranoia, impulse control issues, aggression, and memory loss to name a few.

Many victims of CTE aren’t diagnosed until after they die, upon autopsy and evaluation of brain tissue, hence it may be worth researching early oxygen intervention to those at high risk before symptoms surface.

Now oxygen therapy is not without its risks, as those with COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, could lose their respiratory drive, and oxygen toxicity could cause bleeding and seizures.  But controlled trials could allow us to investigate if one of the simplest of treatments can help battle some of the most difficult of diseases.

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Daliah Wachs is a guest contributor to GCN news. Doctor Wachs is an MD,  FAAFP and a Board Certified Family Physician.  The Dr. Daliah Show , is nationally syndicated M-F from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and Saturday from Noon-1:00 pm (all central times) at GCN.