This article is part of the HBOT Radar series, where we summarize the latest published hyperbaric oxygen therapy research.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It summarizes published medical research conducted in clinical settings and does not evaluate Brain Spa Hyperbaric products. The hyperbaric chambers offered on this website are non-medical wellness devices and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Do not make medical decisions based on this article — consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Title:
Case report shows shallow-dive HBOT resolved symptoms and normalized inflammation markers in a patient with CIRS
What this case report examined
Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) is a complex, multi-system illness often triggered by mold toxins or environmental exposures.
Patients typically experience:
- severe fatigue
- cognitive issues
- neurological symptoms
- immune dysregulation
- abnormal inflammatory markers
Standard treatments vary widely and often provide incomplete relief.
This 2025 case report documents the incidental discovery that low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy may help regulate inflammation and improve function in CIRS.
HBOT protocol used
The patient completed:
- 40 sessions
- over 10 weeks
- using low-pressure “shallow dive” HBOT
The paper does not list the exact pressure, but “shallow dive HBOT” in the literature typically refers to 1.3 ATA or lower — the same range used in most mild HBOT chambers.
That places this report in a lower pressure range than most published hyperbaric research, which makes it unusual — but it is still a single patient.
This patient was treated and monitored in a clinical setting under medical supervision. Results from clinical research cannot be directly applied to other settings or devices — always consult a healthcare professional.
Who was treated?
- 60-year-old female
- Persistent, multi-system symptoms
- Abnormal biomarkers (including TGF-β1 and MMP-9)
- Poor visual contrast sensitivity (VCS)
- History consistent with mold-related CIRS
She had ongoing symptoms despite multiple previous interventions.
Key improvements observed
1. All 22 symptoms resolved
The patient entered the study with a long list of physical, neurological and cognitive symptoms.
After 40 sessions, every single symptom resolved.
2. Huge improvement in visual contrast sensitivity (VCS)
VCS scores improved from:
- 68% → 93%
VCS is one of the hallmark tests used in mold and neurotoxin-related conditions.
3. Sharp reduction in inflammatory biomarkers
Blood markers associated with chronic inflammation decreased substantially, including:
- TGF-β1
- MMP-9
These biomarkers are often elevated in mold illness, Lyme-related inflammation and other environmental illnesses.
4. Improvements in cognition and fatigue
The patient reported:
- sharper thinking
- better focus
- improved mental stamina
- dramatic reduction in fatigue
5. Strong signal for immune regulation
HBOT appeared to modulate systemic inflammation at a whole-body level.
Why this matters
This case is important for several reasons:
1. It used low-pressure HBOT
The changes were recorded at low pressures rather than the higher pressures used in most clinical hyperbaric research. That is what makes the report interesting to researchers — not evidence that low pressure produces this result reliably.
2. CIRS is notoriously difficult to treat
Seeing complete symptom resolution is unusual and noteworthy.
3. Objective markers improved
This wasn’t just “feeling better” — labs, VCS testing and inflammation markers improved alongside symptoms.
4. It suggests HBOT may address core CIRS mechanisms
Including:
- hypoxic tissue stress
- mitochondrial dysfunction
- neuroinflammation
- immune dysregulation
5. It marks a gap in the research
Low-pressure hyperbaric exposure in complex environmental illness is an area with almost no published data. A single case does not fill that gap — it identifies it.
Takeaway for the community
In this one patient, the outcomes reported after 40 low-pressure sessions were:
- resolved all reported symptoms
- improved cognition and fatigue
- normalized visual contrast sensitivity
- reduced inflammatory markers like TGF-β1 and MMP-9
- were reported by the treating clinicians rather than measured against a control
How much weight this deserves. This is a single case report — one patient, no control group, no blinding, and no way to separate the hyperbaric exposure from anything else happening in her care over those ten weeks. Complete resolution of 22 symptoms is a striking outcome, and striking outcomes in single patients are exactly the results that most often fail to replicate. The paper also does not state the pressure used, which means the central detail is an inference rather than a reported figure. It is a signal worth following, and nothing more than that until controlled work exists.
HBOT Radar continues to follow new research on inflammation, environmental illness and whole-body immune recovery using hyperbaric oxygen.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40837587/
Educational disclaimer
This content summarizes findings from published medical research for educational purposes only.
The hyperbaric chambers sold on this website are non-medical wellness devices and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The studies discussed here were conducted in clinical medical settings using medical-grade interventions. The inclusion of research summaries does not imply that similar outcomes can be achieved using non-medical wellness devices.
