A Controlled Trial of the Clinical Effects of Hyperbaric Therapy in Autistic Children
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00335790. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
A Prospective, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Study on the Clinical Effects of Hyperbaric Therapy in Autistic Children
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder currently affecting as many as 1 out of 166 children in the United States. Autism is considered by many to be a permanent condition with little hope for improvement. Treatment for autism is centered on special schooling and behavioral therapy; medical science currently has little to offer. Recent research has discovered that some autistic individuals have decreased blood flow to the brain, evidence of gastrointestinal and brain inflammation, increased markers of oxidative stress, and a relative mitochondrial dysfunction. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can compensate for decreased blood flow by increasing the oxygen content of plasma and body tissues and can even normalize oxygen levels in ischemic tissue. In addition, animal studies have shown that HBOT has potent anti-inflammatory effects and reduces oxidative stress. Furthermore, recent evidence demonstrates that HBOT increases the production of mitochondria and mobilizes stem cells from human bone marrow, which may aid recovery in neurodegenerative diseases. Based upon these findings, it is hypothesized that HBOT will improve symptoms in autistic individuals. Our recent retrospective case series demonstrated that HBOT may improve symptoms in autistic children. We recently completed a prospective pilot trial using HBOT in 18 children which demonstrated significant clinical improvements in autistic children on several standardized scales. Most of the scales were parent-rated, although some were rated by teachers. However, parents were not blinded to the fact that their children received HBOT and evaluation of the children was through parent-rated scales, either of which could lead to bias. There was no placebo or control group. Therefore, the improvements found in this prospective study could have been due merely to chance or the natural development of the children. To determine if HBOT improves symptoms in autistic children, a double-blind controlled study is needed.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT00335790
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 60 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 2 Years to 7 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- May 31, 2006
- Primary completion
- Not listed
- Completion
- Feb 28, 2007
- Last update posted
- Apr 9, 2007
2006 – 2007
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 4
- U.S. states
- 3
- U.S. cities
- 4
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center for Autism Research and Education | Phoenix | Arizona | 85012 | — |
| International Child Development Resource Center | Melbourne | Florida | 32901 | — |
| Blue Ridge Spectrum Center | Charlottesville | Virginia | 22901 | — |
| Advocates for Children | Lynchburg | Virginia | 24501 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT00335790, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Apr 9, 2007 · Synced Sep 24, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT00335790 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.