Villager Improves Aging Outlook with Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment
Well into her retirement years, Lynette Robbins is full of joy and energy. She’s excited about her upcoming trip to Europe where she’ll tour nine countries in 12 days. You can see from her vibrant smile face that she is happy and enjoying life.
“I go out dancing five nights a week,” Lynette explains. “It’s so wonderful to be this age and be able to move my body.”
Two years ago, Lynette’s story was very different. Lynette was the caregiver for her father, her mother and her husband, as each one predeceased her within the space of a few years. The experience left her drained and worried about her own aging process.
“My father died of dementia and my mother died of a stroke,” Lynette explains. “I was afraid I might have the Alzheimer’s gene.”
Along with her family history, Lynette became acutely aware of changes in her own behaviors. She was experiencing memory lapses that left her wondering why she entered a room. She even drove her car on the golf cart path once.
Lynette attended a free lecture at the Aviv Clinic at Brownwood in The Villages that started her journey to wellness. After attending a second lecture, she realized she was learning new information about how her body and brain work. “It sounded like miracles meeting science.”
The medical program at Aviv has been described as a three-month health retreat. The main treatment modality is increased oxygen delivery to cells. “Under pressure, in a hyperbaric chamber, oxygen molecules become small and can easily dissolve in tissue and plasma,” Dr. Kevin Cooke, physician at Aviv, explains. The Aviv treatment experience is infused with testing and medical specialists to monitor and guide your healing.
Over the course of several weeks, Lynette decided to enter the Aviv medical program. The medical program at Aviv starts with a battery of tests, including brain scans. Lynette’s goal was health and mental wellbeing. The Aviv team designed a custom exercise program for her, along with cognitive exercises to help her reach her goal.
The Aviv program is a big commitment—three hours a day, five days a week for three months. “In my mind, I took it on as a part-time job for making my body strong,” Lynette explains.
She showed up every day at one of the scheduled session times and spent three hours in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. After about 10 sessions, she didn’t even realize she was doing it; it just became her routine.
While in the chamber, which looks like the inside of an airplane with seats lining each side facing center, Lynette used an electronic tablet to work through her cognitive exercises. As her abilities improved, the exercises became more challenging.
Dr. Kevin Cooke, physician at Aviv explains, “Oxygen floods the bloodstream, but by exercising the specific part of the brain we are trying to heal, we get the healing oxygenated blood concentrated in that area, creating stem cells that regenerate brain tissue and grow new blood vessels.”
After the treatment, Lynette’s scans showed growth in the targeted areas of her brain—the areas that showed changes consistent with aging on the pre-treatment scans. “Based on the improvement in my brain, the treatments gave me back seven to 10 years of healthy living,” she says.
Additionally, Lynette tells how she really felt the difference over the next couple of months. In addition to the relief of knowing she does not have the Alzheimer’s gene, she experiences greater peace of mind overall and is more centered in the moment. Her peripheral vision and response times are better, which she notes are good for driving. “I don’t trip and fall,” Lynette says. “And when I enter a room, I know what I’m there for.”
“We are so fortunate to have this in our own back yard,” Lynette says of the Aviv Clinic. “People come to The Villages to keep active and get outside. This program allows us to become more of the person we want to be at the end of our lives.”
About the Author: Christine Andola
