Trial Report Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves clinical symptoms and functional capacity and restores thalamic connectivity in ME/CFS, 2025, Kim, Scheibenbogen+.

[Haveyoutriedyoga]

This is such an intense course of treatment, requiring travel, a long time sitting upright in the chamber (unless they had unique special chambers which I think unlikely) and it is extremely noisy and bright, I struggled to make it in three times a week via getting lifts there, and it all made me SO much worse. So I don’t understand how they can possibly claim to have tested it on the average MECFS patient.

 

[Hutan]

Baseline seed-to-voxel FC analysis (pre-specified) showed increased thalamic connectivity with bilateral motor and somatosensory regions as well as bilateral visuo-occipital regions in ME/CFS patients compared to HCs. Specifically, clusters of increased thalamic connectivity were observed with the bilateral precentral and postcentral gyri and the left superior parietal lobule (p < 0.001, t = 5.48, FDR-corrected), the right lateral occipital cortex and lingual gyrus (p < 0.001, t = 5.4, FDR-corrected), and the left occipital pole, lateral occipital cortex, and cuneal cortex (p < 0.001, t = 4.86, FDR- corrected) (see Figure 4a). At follow-up, no significant differences in FC between patients and HCs were observed.

To further explore the spatial specificity of thalamic connectivity changes, an additional exploratory and hypothesis- generating analysis of thalamic subregions was conducted, based on the functional segregation of the thalamus. Longitudinal analysis revealed a significant reduction in FC from pre- to post-treatment in patients, specifically between the left sensorimotor cluster of the thalamus and bilateral sensorimotor regions (precentral gyri and postcentral gyri, supra- marginal gyrus and superior parietal lobule), as well as the left visuo-occipital regions (lateral occipital cortex, occipital pole, and occipital fusiform gyrus) (right sensorimotor/parietal cluster: t = −6.05; left sensorimotor/parietal: t = −6.70; left occipital: t = −5.56; all p < 0.001, FDR-corrected) (Figure 4b).

 

[Hutan]

This is such an intense course of treatment

From Table 2

Responders: baseline, after HBOT...........Non-respondents: baseline, after HBOT



It looks as though both groups were substantially closer to POTS and unhealthily high heart rates after treatment.

In the 'responders', a mean change of 27 beats per minute after treatment means that a lot of the responders could be diagnosed with POTS after the treatment (although not before).

When I tracked my resting heart rate and change of heart rate (supine to standing), higher levels of both indicated that I was getting worse i.e. PEM and lower function was more likely.

 

[Hutan]

On the brain imaging

I'm wondering if the patterns of higher connectivity in the ME/CFS group versus the controls might be due to the novelty of the situation for the ME/CFS group?

Possibly the controls were people who had undergone the MRI before and so it was less stimulating?

That might go some of the way to explaining why the connectivity pattern looked more like the controls on the second MRI.

 

[Utsikt]

On the brain imaging

I'm wondering if the patterns of higher connectivity in the ME/CFS group versus the controls might be due to the novelty of the situation for the ME/CFS group?

Possibly the controls were people who had undergone the MRI before and so it was less stimulating?

That might go some of the way to explaining why the connectivity pattern looked more like the controls on the second MRI.

If you push a bunch of people with ME/CFS for two months, you would probably expect quite a lot of brain changes just from that.

If the changes had no correlation with any of the changes in other measurements, how can they be of importance?

 

[Jacob Deasy]

Hello all. I would like to add my anecdotal experience to this thread in case it is of interest.

In early 2026, I saw the preprint of this study and decided to replicate it myself at a local centre. 8 weeks of 5 one hour sessions at 2.0ATA. This was viable as I am lucky my parents live by a centre run by a charity at €25 per session. For context, my official diagnosis is ‘severe ME’ due to several weeks in 2025 of light and sound sensitivity. However, except those periods (and in this informed community) I am actually moderate. I am generally housebound, but suffer more from headaches and brain fog than crushing fatigue, so made the effort for this. I am a researcher and was aware of the failed sham controlled long covid trial (from Sweden? Can’t remember now) before starting this, so was conscious of the potential placebo effect. My sole medication during this period was melatonin.

I did incremental private sessions at first, followed by joining the group sessions. The sessions never triggered PEM. All I had to do was walk 10 metres from my sofa to the car, then 10 metres from the car to the chair in the chamber - within my capacity. I am posting this because every session gave me a temporary benefit. I had multiple sessions where I was on the verge of tears from the fog/headache generated by the staff interacting with me beforehand, but 10 minutes in I was happily reading (not normal for me) with clarity and regained composure. The benefit was strong enough that I have since rented a 1.5ATA chamber at home and do two sessions a day of 45mins. Neither chamber has provided me with a cumulative uplift, but both give me temporary daily relief (during and briefly after) where I can rest and read.

I think skepticism is merited, but personally it was a breakthrough in my management that I look(ed) forward to every day, especially at 2.0ATA as the relief was faster.

 

[Utsikt]

Thank you for sharing @Jacob Deasy

Have I understood you correctly if I say that you primarily noticed differences while being in the chamber?

 

[Jacob Deasy]

Thank you for sharing @Jacob Deasy

Have I understood you correctly if I say that you primarily noticed differences while being in the chamber?

Yes. My time in the chamber, after a short period once up to max pressure (which itself takes 10-15 mins), is nearly always a period of relief where I can read continuously. The relief is transient. I have had bad days where I revert to being symptomatic afterwards and good days where it relieves a previously building headache/fog for several hours. Overall, the average length of the relief time, both during and after the session, was enough to persuade me to rent a chamber.