A Scots addiction treatment facility pioneering the use of pressurised oxygen for health problems from cancer to heart disease is to become a global resource on the subject.
The Directors at Castle Craig, one of Europe’s leading rehab clinics, Accredited by the Joint Commission, brought in Scottish digital agency Channel 6 to help create the online resource on behalf of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Trust (HBOTT) to promote key findings in this fast developing treatment.
Researchers from Edinburgh University are already studying the innovative work at Castle Craig Hospital in the Scottish Borders and the new website, designed by Channel 6, is now gathering international research on the subject for a global audience.
Divers suffering from ‘the bends’ have long been treated in pressurised oxygen chambers and medical staff at Castle Craig are using similar treatments to promote healing, particularly in liver and brain damage.
The new website gives a full overview of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) which sees patients breathing 100% oxygen at elevated pressure to help aid cancer treatment and boost healing for disorders ranging from multiple sclerosis to MRSA and brain injuries including post traumatic stress disorder.
It also provides up-to-the-minute news and research from around the globe on the treatment, and aims to become the first port of call for medics and interested researchers to find out about developments in the field.
Channel 6 Client Services Director Kate Little said: “The new HBOTT site is designed to appeal to a very specific market. It is aimed at medical professionals, scientists, and perhaps people who have heard about HBOT and want to read articles about how the treatment can help many illnesses and disorders.
“There was very little promotional material in existence on this kind of treatment, so we designed the website from scratch, including the logo. The HBOTT wanted the site to look clean and scientific, and hold a lot of content while still being easy to navigate.”
Castle Craig Hospital Chairman Peter McCann, founded the HBOTT and commissioned Channel 6 to create the website as a resource for the public and medical professionals.
He said: “HBOT is a new type of therapy offered at Castle Craig – our own research is still in the early stages and, as far as I am aware, no other clinics or hospitals treating addictions in the UK are offering this treatment. The HBOTT is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to become a definitive online resource on HBOT for the public and medical professionals and we seek to promote further research into the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
“There are many medical professionals out there who don’t know about HBOT though increasingly doctors are looking at the research and growing number of case studies and realising its potential. It would take people a long time to trawl the internet for this amount of information themselves and so we decided to set up a website where people can find all the information they need in one place.”
Victoria McCann, communications manager for the HBOTT, said: “We needed a website where patients and medical professionals could easily access news articles, research and guidance on the treatment, and we are very pleased with what Channel 6 has delivered to us.
“We had a very specific look in mind for the website. We wanted something clean, modern, and scientific – a site that was user-friendly and easy to navigate.
“We were very pleased with the finished product as it is extremely easy to update information, which we will be doing on an ongoing basis to make sure the newest research on HBOT is accessible.”
In fact, many rehab clinics nowadays offer some innovative approaches to treatment. For example, Virginia Center for Addiction Medicine hires the Recovery Coaches as personal patient helpers apart from different treatments procedures.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment
Patients spend on average 60 minutes at a time in the chamber during the painless and relaxing treatment, which allows ten times the normal amount of oxygen to be dissolved in the bloodstream. The oxygen boost can help white blood cells kill bacteria, reduces swelling and allows new blood vessels to grow more rapidly into damaged tissue.
Patients at Castle Craig are using the treatment to ease alcohol and drug withdrawal symptoms, and University of Edinburgh researchers aim to discover if HBOT increases stem cell production and thus speeds their recovery from liver disease. The hyperbaric chamber is also being used by members of the public wishing to aid recovery from disorders ranging from brain cell damage to healing wounds and elementary symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
For more information on the Hyperbaric Treatment Trust please visit http://www.hyperbaricoxygentherapy.org.uk/, and for more information on Castle Craig Hospital please go to www.castlecraig.co.uk
ENDS
Issued on behalf of Channel 6 Multimedia (http://www.ch-6.co.uk/) by the Holyrood PR. Contact Kirsty Taylor on 0131 5612244 or info@holyroodpr.co.uk
