A town in west Cork is gaining a reputation as a centre for "oxygentreatment" following a local fundraising campaign. Anne Ryan reports
Bandon Hyperbaric Oxygen Centre (BHOC), which formally opens its doors this week, is believed to be the only oxygen chamber in the Republic available to treat a range of conditions.
An oxygen chamber is believed to relieve and sometimes cure distressing symptoms which accompany conditions caused by lack of oxygen to the brain.
When a second extension is built soon, Bandon will have two chambers, ranking in standard with the most modern in Europe and the US.
Treatment works by administrating oxygen under intense (hyperbaric) pressure. Among medical experts working in the aviation, space and diving sectors, it is believed to have a far more expansive therapeutic role beyond curing decompression sickness for divers - its original purpose.
Hyperbaric treatment is based on the theory of allowing the body to heal through flooding cells with pure oxygen, which rushes to an area of injury.
The treatment centre has been installed in a building to the rear of Bandon Town Hall. The voluntary BHOC says it has not received one penny of its costs - an estimated €250,000 - from the Government.
A chamber had been in use for five years in another location in the town. It has been upgraded to conform to standards from a safety, health and insurance viewpoint. It now has a waiting room and wheelchair-accessible facilities.
A second chamber purchased in Scotland has recently been shipped to Bandon. The chambers will operate to the same high-spec as those in NASA space centre.
"The masks we use here will be the same ones used in American fighter jets that are out in Iraq at the moment," explained BHOC committee member Mr Paddy O'Sullivan. "A wave of goodwill from the local community has fundraised all our efforts to date."
He is an electrical engineer, professional diver and professionally-trained compression-chamber operator.
In the Republic, there is just one similar facility. Located at University College Hospital, Galway, the 27-year-old hyperbaric medical chamber is used for countering "the bends", a sickness which divers can be prone to, and is considered not suitable for other patients as entry and exit is cumbersome.
The Bandon chamber looks like something from Twenty Leagues Under the Sea, with a submarine-like shape and little porthole windows. Yet inside it is fully seated and has a wheelchair- access ramp.
Hyperbaric therapy is relatively new. It has been spearheaded mainly by Dr Philip James, of Dundee University in Scotland. He has visited Bandon and has worked in close liaison with BHOC.
Treatment has had success in treating motor-neurological conditions associated with the temporary lack of oxygen to the brain. These range from multiple sclerosis to strokes and cerebral palsy.
Oxygen treatment is also believed to be effective with skin complaints, notably severe ulceration following amputation or operation.
Many working in conventional medicine are adopting a "wait and see" approach to oxygen treatment.
The BHOC project was initiated by a local MS sufferer, Mr Liam Deasy (66), who was travelling to Britain to use oxygen chambers. He noticed significant improvement in his symptoms, which improved his quality of life.
MS results in loss of muscle tone and can over years affect eyesight (he developed double vision), bladder control, speech, and memory.
Mr Deasy has lost his double vision. Though wheelchair bound, he remains active, which for an MS sufferer of his years is remarkable. "If it wasn't for the oxygen treatment I would be dead or permanently laid out flat by now. Once I started using the oxygen treatment, I recovered several functions I was in danger of losing altogether."
Loss of function to the brain is due to tissue destruction, which is not reversible, or tissue swelling, which can be reactivated, according to proponents of this therapy. Dormant cells around destroyed areas can be revived and taught with the help of accompanying physiotherapy to recover function.
Stroke victims have loss of limb movement and co-ordination due to an area of the brain being deprived of oxygen. Advocates of this therapy believe that by sending oxygen-enriched blood plasma to injured areas of the brain (and body), healing may follow.
The quicker the treatment is administered the better. Dr James has recommended an oxygen chamber be placed in every hospital, and each stroke victim should be placed there straight after getting the stroke.
Soccer star David Beckham popularised oxygen treatment when he used it for healing his leg injury before last year's World Cup. Almost every major soccer club in Britain has an oxygen chamber for sports injuries.
While the cost of therapy in the US and Europe can be expensive, the Bandon group says no one will be deprived of treatment for financial reasons.