WHAT IS CEREBRAL HYPOXIA?

Cerebral hypoxia refers to a condition in which there was decreased oxygen supply to the brain, causing permanent damage. Drowning, strangling, choking, suffocation, cardiac arrest, head trauma, carbon monoxide poisoning, and complications of general anesthesia can create conditions that can lead to cerebral hypoxia. Symptoms of cerebral hypoxia include inattentiveness, poor judgment, memory loss, and a decrease in motor coordination. Brain cells are extremely sensitive to oxygen deprivation and can begin to die within five minutes after oxygen supply has been cut off.

How Does Oxford Help With Cerebral Hypoxia?

There are no drugs on the market that can restore brain cells which have been damaged due to hypoxia. And while various kinds of therapies can be helpful, they cannot address the root cause of underlying brain imbalances.

So, what are the root causes of the imbalances created by hypoxia? Recent advances in neuroscience reveal the root causes include a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the brain, lack of specific brain chemicals, and brainwave imbalances.

Let’s look at these root causes a little more in depth: Inside the brain, we have billions of brain cells, called neurons, sending electrical signals to each other, which we measure as brainwaves. These electrical signals cause the brain cells to release small chemicals called neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, and adrenaline.

This vast network of brain cells is fed with oxygen and other nutrients by blood from over 100,000 miles of blood vessels inside the brain. For people who have suffered from hypoxia, there is often not enough of these blood vessels supplying oxygen and important nutrients.

This lack of nutrients begins to cause brainwave imbalances, as measured by an EEG scan. This, in turn, causes a downstream effect on brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, meaning that the brain cells start producing too little or too much of the chemicals they need. These neurotransmitters imbalances are further exacerbated by nutritional deficiencies in the person’s diet, especially of key vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and amino acids.

So, how do we start correcting a potentially multifaceted problem?

One of our most important tools at Oxford Recovery Center is called hyperbaric oxygen. This therapy actually causes new blood vessel growth in the brain and causes the brain to generate new stem cells which turn into new brain cells. (See our video about hyperbaric oxygen here.)

Another important tool is neurofeedback therapy. We use neurofeedback to scan your brain’s electrical signals and reset them with non-invasive feedback in the form of sound. (See our video about neurofeedback here.)

And finally, neurotransmitter therapy and dietary coaching is used to correct nutritional deficiencies which are underlying the brain chemical imbalances—imbalances that we can find through laboratory testing we provide.

We strive to offer the most comprehensive research-based recovery program available for traumatic brain injuries, and we are happy to serve you by taking as much time as we need to answer your specific questions.