A doctor along with his research team at TAU may have found a new treatment for stroke as well as other medical solutions for restoring significant neurological functions, even years after the initial event.

Dr.  Shai Efrati’s hypothesized that high levels of oxygen could potentially reinvigorate dormant neurons in brain tissue that was chronically damaged by stroke, traumatic brain injury and metabolic disorder.

These conditions are the primary cause of brain damage and permanent disabilities such as motor dysfunction, psychological problems, memory loss, outright dementia and more. In the meantime, current treatments and rehabilitation programs are trying their utmost abilities to heal stroke patients.

Dr. Efrati together with his colleague, Prof. Eshel Ben-Jacob of TAU’s School of Physics and Astronomy and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, recruited 74 post-stroke patients, and those 6 to 36 months after the injury whose condition had stopped improving, for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

The treatment entailed 40 sessions, two hours per session, and five times a week in a high pressure chamber that contains oxygen-rich air which increases oxygen levels in the body ten-fold.

The findings of Efrati’s research that was published in PloS ONE has shown a significant increase of neuronal activity after a group of affected patients  received two months of hyperbaric treatment, in comparison to the group that received none, he said.

The study “opens the gate into a new territory of treatment,” said Efrati. “It is now understood that many brain disorders are related to inefficient energy supply to the brain. HBOT treatment could right such metabolic abnormalities before the onset of full dementia, where there is still potential for recovery.”