- With Mayo Clinic neurologist
Jerry W. Swanson, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Jerry W. Swanson, M.D.
Jerry W. Swanson, M.D.
Dr. Jerry Swanson is a board-certified neurologist at Mayo Clinic and is a professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. He has a special interest in headache disorders and medical education.
Dr. Swanson, a Lacon, Ill., native, was appointed to the Mayo Clinic staff in 1982 and works in the Department of Neurology with about 90 other physicians. He formerly chaired the Headache Division in the Neurology Department at Mayo Clinic and works with headache subspecialists around the world. He has published and lectured widely on headache disorders. He also serves as Assistant Dean for Assessment in Mayo Medical School.
"In a manner similar to the printing press, Internet technology enables the unprecedented ability to communicate with the global community about health information," Dr. Swanson says. "There is no doubt that the knowledgeable individual contributes greatly to his or her own health care, and now we can share information much more widely."
"There is much information already available about health care on the Internet. Unfortunately, much of it is not founded on sound principles. It is exciting to be a part of the MayoClinic.com team and contribute to the creation of a reliable and timely health resource."
Dr. Swanson is the neurology editor for "Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and has reviewed articles for "Mayo Clinic Health Letter" and "Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource." He is also editor-in-chief of the "Mayo Clinic on Headache" book, published in 2004. In 2008 the magazine "Women's Health" named him one of America's Top Doctors for Women.
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Question
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: Can it reduce stroke damage?
Can hyperbaric oxygen therapy improve recovery from a stroke?
Answer
from Jerry W. Swanson, M.D.
There's no conclusive evidence that hyperbaric oxygen therapy — which involves breathing pure oxygen in a special pressurized chamber — improves the outcome of stroke.
Some researchers theorize that increasing the supply of oxygen to the parts of the brain affected by stroke may reduce the extent of irreversible damage. But this has not been proved. Too few people have been studied to say whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy decreases the chance of dying or if it offers other benefits, such as improving the ability to perform everyday tasks.
Although hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been found useful in the treatment of a number of conditions — such as decompression sickness and carbon monoxide poisoning — more research is needed to evaluate what, if any, role it plays in stroke treatment.
- Mechem CC, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 6, 2009.
- Kidd PM. Integrated brain restoration after ischemic stroke: Medical management, risk factors, nutrients, and other interventions for managing inflammation and enhancing brain plasticity. Alternative Medicine Review. 2009;14:14.
- Bennett MH, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for acute ischaemic stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2005:CD004954.
