HEALTH & FITNESS Above: A room-size hyperbaric chamber with four patients and a technologist at Royal Oak Beaumont's Hyberbaric Medicine Center. Top: Dr. Bruce Ruben with an individual-sized full-body chamber at 0 2 — The Complete Hyperbaric, Infusion & Wound Care Center in Farmington Hills. Bottom: Dr. Farris Gulli in the control room of Royal Oak Beaumont's Hyberbaric Medicine Center. 32 May 31- 2007 In Search of Healing from page 31 gas mixture) during deep-sea diving, that prompted further study in the use of hyperbaric oxygen in clinical practice,' Ruben says. "There's strong science behind it!' "It's becoming more and more used:' says Gulli, who is both a general and plas- tic surgeon. HBOT is most commonly applied to diabetic foot wounds (ulcers), followed by radiation injuries, Gulli says. At Beaumont, "We've found a decreased volume of amputation" because of HBOT use. At Ruben's Farmington Hills clinic, he also sees a fair number of crush injuries. A current patient had his foot run over by a forklift. "It's not just the bone that is crushed but the blood flow stops:' he says. It (HBOT) allows you to sustain life and the life of a limb." A Big Relief Randy Segal had never heard of hyper- baric oxygen therapy. He was taking intravenous antibiotics under Ruben's care, referred for a toe that had become compromised as a result of his diabetes. Like other diabetics whose circulation system lacks oxygen, he was fighting amputation. When the healing didn't progress, Ruben suggested hyperbaric treatment. Over a month's time, Segal spent approxi- mately 90 minutes five days a week in the oxygen pressured chamber. During his "dive," he relaxed by watching television, reading or sleeping. "There's no question it speeded up the healing;' says Segal, 51, a West Bloomfield financial planner with two college-aged daughters. "It's healed as much as it can be." His insurance paid 100 percent of the HBOT cost, and he experienced no side effects. "In this setting, oxygen is a drug and needs to be respected as such;' Ruben says. "Oxygen can be toxic if not used properly!' Hyperbaric medicine is only part of the treatment of a patient's wounds, Gulli stresses. Diabetic patients, for instance, must make sure that their devitalized tissue has been cut out, they are eating correctly, they stay off their feet and use antibiotics to control the infection, he says. "They have to be compliant with every- thing to be successful;' he says. "We work closely with the other physicians!' Dr. Lawrence Dell, an internist, says, "It's a booming part of medicine — all recent and new — and a wonderful addition to available treatments!' Dell is with Internal Medicine and Primary Care Specialists in West Bloomfield. He has seen HBOT work in cases of infection, diabetic foot ulcers and injuries to the limbs. Some multiple scle- rosis patients have found relief, although that is not among the 13 approved indi- cations of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, which oversees treatment protocols and standards of practice. The Potential "We see patients with spinal infections and I send them to Dr. Ruben:' says Dr. Lawrence Kurz, an orthopedic spinal sur- geon with Weissman, Gitlin, Herkowitz M.D. in Southfield and West Bloomfield. Kurz is excited about HBOT's potential for healing spinal fusions for his highest risk patients, including smokers, diabetics and those who've had multiple surgeries, undergone radiation or have suppressed immune systems. "It has to be the right situation:' he says. HBOT doesn't work in every case, Ruben seconds. "I'm strongly Jewish. Ultimately, God has the say so. It's not my will. Not everyone will respond." "Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not the be all and end all: Gulli says. "Like any- thing in medicine, there can be complica- tions but the complication rate is very, very low." II For more information, call Beaumont's Hyperbaric Medicine Center in Royal Oak at (248) 655-3101, or 02 The Complete Hyperbaric, Infusion & Wound Care Center in — Farmington Hills at (248) 932-5666.