Researchers to test oxygen therapy as treatment for depression

A team of researchers will test oxygen therapy as treatment for people suffering from depression. The procedure was recently found to yield significant improvements among schizophrenia patients.

The team from Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in Israel has cited a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, which revealed that schizophrenia patients who breathed air with high levels of oxygen functioned significantly better than those who inhaled ordinary air.

Exposing psychiatric patients to a 40 percent concentration of oxygen in the air instead of the normal 21 percent via an ordinary plastic tube is very safe and effective, said Yehudit Bloch, a doctoral student in BGU’s Health Sciences Faculty, according to an article in the Jerusalem Post.

Since oxygen therapy is established as an easy and non-invasive treatment, Bloch and his team will try it on patients with low- and medium-level depression. Their study was approved by the BGU Helsinki Committee on Human Medical Experimentation. It will be conducted under the supervision of Professor Yuly Bersuedsky of the Beersheba Mental Health Center.

Recent studies have linked the inadequate supply of oxygen to the brain with poor function of the mitochrondria, or energy-producing fibers, in the cells. This can disrupt the function of neurons and the electrical activity of the brain, according to BGU researcher Professor Pesach Shvartzman. This is why raising the amount of oxygen inhaled by the patient can improve psychiatric functioning, he said.

Last week, a government-backed U.S. study revealed that talk therapy combined with lower doses of medication are more effective in treating schizophrenia than traditional anti-psychotic drugs.

Published in The Journal of American Psychiatry, the two-year study by the National Institute of Mental Health involved a treatment called Navigate. It forms part of an early intervention model wherein people with schizophrenia are treated as soon as they experience their first psychotic hallucinations or other symptoms. Under the treatment, patients are required to attend weekly meetings with mental health clinicians who manage medication and offer support to schizophrenia sufferers to help them get back on track at work or school.

BGU seeks to yield the same positive results of oxygen therapy among people suffering from depression, the leading cause of disability worldwide. In Australia, it is estimated that 45 percent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, Beyondblue reports.

According to HealthDirect Australia, symptoms of depression range from lasting feelings of sadness and hopelessness to losing interest in the things one used to enjoy and feeling very tearful or anxious. The condition can also be manifested through physical symptoms, such as feeling constantly tired, sleeping badly, having no appetite or sex drive and complaining of various aches and pains. Current treatments for depression include medicine, counselling or psychotherapy or a combination of these.

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