A promising new treatment for PTSD

Since she witnessed the October 7th massacre of hundreds of civilians by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival, Idit Negrin would do anything to overcome the trauma that has been plaguing her. “They began shooting at us after we spotted the terrorists,” she stated. She fled to avoid death.

Later on, “I would wake up at three o’clock every night, screaming, sweating, and trembling.”. After a day or two, I believe, I started to feel like I was crying and falling. “.

At the time of our meeting this summer, she was halfway through her sixty-session course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). It has long been used to treat non-healing wounds and compression sickness in divers. However, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a completely different illness that is currently being treated at the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research in Be’er Ya’akov, Israel.

Negrin said, “You feel like you’re going crazy,” in reference to her experiences with PTSD. “There is a terror attack again!” I yell to people over the phone, and you realize that you have no control over your brain. “.

Negrin is attempting to regain control, as are roughly 650 other PTSD survivors of October 7th who are receiving free treatment at the Sagol Center, which is currently the biggest hyperbaric center in the world, alongside veterans of the armed forces.

Doctor. Up to 350 patients are treated daily at this clinic, which is run by Shai Efrati and is at the forefront of this kind of medicine. Efrati claimed, “What we are doing is actually tricking the body.”. “The strongest catalyst to initiate the entire cascade of repair mechanisms is hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen. “..”.

Inside these pressurized chambers, which feel like you’re scuba diving down to thirty feet, Efrati claims they’re triggering repair mechanisms in the brain and body. Pure oxygen is inhaled by patients, and the body can absorb it up to 16 times more readily under such high pressure. After that, masks are taken off every five minutes.

Efrati stated, “The drop from extremely high to normal is being interpreted as hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, at a similar level. The body then triggers the stem cells, and for the first time, even in humans, we can observe the brain’s new blood vessels and neurons growing. Furthermore, this is astounding. “.

Some have referred to the treatment as “unapproved” and “not proven.”. Efrati stated, “This is how it should look when we talk about hyperbaric oxygen therapy.”.

Doane questioned, “You’re saying there are a lot of frauds out there?”.

Yes. Furthermore, this is not only bad but may even be harmful. “.”.

Dr. Efrati is always coming up with new applications for this treatment. We had the opportunity to observe his clinic near Tel Aviv, where they provide hyperbaric medicine to athletes (“If we can shorten the recovery period, you can push harder doing the exercises”) and assist patients with brain injuries in regaining their mobility by promoting the development of new blood vessels and neurons in the brain.

Efrati stated, “It’s not that we are fixing his running,” in reference to the performance of one athlete. “We are repairing the brain. “.”.

A number of studies that examine PTSD in veterans have been published. According to a study released today, 68 percent of patients had significantly improved. Remission from PTSD lasted at least two years, according to another report, which is longer than other proven therapies. Efrati stated, “We wish to assess everything impartially.”.

For the Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, it is enough to request that Efrati’s team cease testing and begin treatment. The doctor says, “You see the evidence in front of you,” but you can always ask for more information. “.

Among the IDF veterans referred for the first clinical trial in 2018 was Shachar Mizrhai. He served during the Israeli offensive in Gaza in 2014 and was in an armored vehicle when it was ambushed. He was thinking about surviving in the short term; the pain would come later. When he said, “I can’t sleep at night,”. “I feel like I want to die the moment I put on the uniform. There’s a bloody smell. I smell war. “.”.

He had tried sleeping pills, therapy, and drugs. He considered ending his life. “Nothing really helped to get back to life,” he stated. Additionally, I’ve heard that this could be helpful, and it might be my last opportunity before I pass away. “.”.

Dr. Mizrhai’s 60 sessions were witnessed by Keren Doenyas-Barak, the head of the Sagol Center’s PTSD program, who also showed us his brain scans from June 2018 and March 2019, which showed activation of areas used to process information or effectively regulate emotion. Prior to the treatment, there was no illumination in the later brain scan pictures.

“A lot of people have a tendency to view PTSD as a psychological issue rather than a biological one,” Doenyas-Barak stated. Therefore, the treatment of PTSD is quite similar to that of other brain disorders. “..”.

Everything changed for Mizrhai after the treatment: “I was feeling again for the first time. I was less terrified when I started to sleep at night. I feel alive once more because of it. After this, I’m a living man, whereas before I was dying. “..”.

“If it’s being offered in Israel and they’re getting such good results, why the hell are we not offering it in the United States?” asked Greg Murphy, a Republican politician and physician from North Carolina.

In the corridors of Congress, Murphy, a member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, is posing that query. Veterans make up one in ten of his constituents. “I love our VA,” he declared. But if we have 22 veterans committing suicide every day, we aren’t reaching a certain segment of our population. Furthermore, I think it is medical malpractice to deny our veterans access to a treatment that has demonstrated conclusive results if we are taking action. “..”.

He proposed the Veterans’ National Traumatic Injury Treatment Act in 2023. “We simply want the VA to conduct a pilot study inside their own premises to see if they demonstrate that hyperbaric oxygen is effective or not,” he stated.

He said, “They just don’t want to do anything; it’s just hands up.” What is he hearing from the VA? “Well, the results are mixed,” is the explanation we have heard. All right. Examine the outcomes over the past 15 years. Examine the research conducted in Israel. We are witnessing an absolute impact on this and other neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s, migraines, and some even multiple sclerosis. “.”.

When “Sunday Morning” asked the Department of Veterans Affairs for an interview, they refused to comment.

We met Dr. Lin Weaver, who is the director of Hyperbaric Medicine at Intermountain Health in Salt Lake City, Utah. They see roughly 20 patients every day, which helps to put the enormous number of patients—350 every day—that are treated in Israel into perspective. Although he claims that they don’t often use their hyperbaric chambers for PTSD patients due to the high cost, he has observed encouraging outcomes: “I’ve treated patients. Weaver remarked, “Everyone has gotten surprisingly better.”.

However, insurance companies claim that the evidence supporting its effectiveness for PTSD is insufficient. Additionally, in the U. A. The expenses incurred out of pocket surpass $50,000.

Weaver remarked, “What’s required is like a drug trial.”. However, these trials require years to complete. The key question is, “Is there an initiative? And is there a funding source?”.

“How come there isn’t more pressure from people like you to say, ‘Prove this,’ if doctors like you are so convinced that this works?” Doane questioned.

Weaver said, “Well, trust me, we’ve tried.”. “My proposals have been sent to extramural funding organizations. They haven’t welcomed them yet. “,”.

“Here, you are on the frontier of medicine,” Doane said to Dr. Efrati. Is that dangerous?

“I always tell you as a scientist that I need more data and more research,” he said. “But now that I’m sitting in front of you and staring into your eyes as a doctor, you’re having trouble. This is what doctors do. “.

According to Idit Negrin, this therapy is giving her hope that she will be able to get over her Nova Music Festival nightmare. She hopes that the therapy will allow her to move on with her life.

However, she wears a Nova necklace as a reminder while undergoing treatment. As she put it, “I don’t get her off my neck.”.

Her success serves as inspiration for Dr. Efrati to continue developing and planning for the future so that his patients can deal with the past.

Some people will listen to this and think it’s too good to be true,” Doane said. “.

“Yeah, I know,” Negrin replied. “But it’s a fact. “.”.

To learn more:.

Israel’s Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research is located in Be’er Ya’akov.

Greg Murphy, a Republican congressman from North Carolina (R-N. A. ().

Intermountain Health, Salt Lake City, Utah, Hyperbaric Medicine.

Sari Aviv produced the narrative. Ed Givnish was the editor.

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