The miraculous healing powers of oxygen

Paratrooper Ben Parkinson, who lost both legs aged just 22, meets Princess Anne

The course of treatment depends on the individual patient, explains Prof James. It can be extremely arduous and is no quick fix. Ben will probably have 20 one-hour sessions over the next month and then be reviewed.

Prof James, 73, emeritus professor of hyperbaric medicine at the University of Dundee, is one of the UKs foremost experts in the subject, having spent most of his professional life involved in deep sea diving, where high levels of oxygen are routinely used for brain and spinal cord injuries.

His book, Oxygen and the Brain, which took him 20 years to write, was published at the end of last year . He passionately believes that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), still regarded with suspicion by much of the medical establishment, can be used to improve the treatment of a range of disorders, from traumatic brain injury like Bens to multiple sclerosis (MS).

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is still regarded as quackery by many doctors because it is not taught in our medical schools he says. But it is simply a means of giving more of the oxygen we all breathe. We need to use more oxygen in medical practice and especially in the treatment of brain disorders, which remains in the dark ages.

There is now overwhelming evidence from advanced imaging of brain injured patients that confirms the brain cells may not be dead but sleeping or dormant, rather, and can be revived after injury.

A second important discovery is that stem cells that form in the brain as we grow in the womb are still present in our brains as adults and retain the ability to grow new nerve cells, Prof James adds.

His book, which charts our understanding of the importance of oxygen, takes in the adventures of 19th century balloonists, vital work on the nature of gases by the Scottish physiologist J.S. Haldane, the pre-war popularity of compressed air baths, and the opening in Cleveland in 1928 of the renowned hyperbaric hotel for patients with a variety of conditions.

Prof Philip James, author of the book Oxygen and the Brain

Oxygen, he points out, is a key component of the natural healing process, although we seldom think of it that way. The oxygen we breathe normally is involved in repairing and regenerating tissue all the time he explains.

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The miraculous healing powers of oxygen