IHHT

IHHT: interval hypoxia hyperoxia training

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to three hypoxia researchers from the USA and Great Britain.

Hypoxia training has been known among athletes for decades. The problem with it until now: one was either at altitude or in the valley. The two states did not alternate. Effective regulative therapies do not work primarily through the stimulus but through the body’s counter-regulation. We are very familiar, for instance, with warm feet after a barefoot walk in the snow. The health effect of Kneipp cures or of saunas is also based on this. Warm is followed by cold. The body always has to counter-regulate.

That this now works at the subcellular level is rather new and is the basis of IHHT. Normally we constantly breathe air with an oxygen content of 21%. This oxygen is taken up by the blood and passed on to the cells. Countless biochemical processes have to take place before the oxygen arrives at the mitochondria. There, in turn, important reactions are set in motion. All of them depend on the supply of oxygen.

If the oxygen content of the air is now reduced, which interestingly does not lead to breathlessness (that is brought about by a raised concentration of CO2), the mitochondria are also supplied with less oxygen. They now have to respond.

According to the theory, the stress caused by the reduction in oxygen is not tolerated by the sickly mitochondria. These perish. On the other hand, the healthy mitochondria receive a signal to multiply. The therapy is thus a kind of rejuvenation cure for the power stations of the cell, and of the whole organism.

This procedure is therefore unique and, alongside the many molecular mechanisms, the essential reason for the success of the therapy, especially in the treatment of marked mitochondriopathies such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or cardiovascular diseases.

A further positive influence on sugar metabolism is the increased transport of glucose into the cell, which lowers the so-called insulin resistance.

In a study with an interval hypoxia-hyperoxia regime in patients with metabolic syndrome, not only a significant weight reduction was achieved, but also a reduction in body fat mass, in total cholesterol including LDL, and in fasting blood sugar. At the same time, blood pressure fell. Endurance performance and brain functions improved.

Superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase are the most important antioxidants for protection against oxidative stress. Here too it has been shown that controlled hypoxia stimulates the synthesis of these protective factors. This produces a training effect. The lack of oxygen sets an oxidative stress, which triggers a counter-reaction with increased formation of the body’s own antioxidants.

How the treatment proceeds

First, a member of staff will ask you about various health requirements in order to establish whether you are suitable for this treatment. The programme sequence and the oxygen concentration are then defined.

You sit or lie comfortably and are fitted with a breathing mask and with an oxygen measuring device on your finger to measure the oxygen saturation in the blood.

The therapy lasts about 45 minutes. The first session, with the introduction, lasts about 75 minutes. Individual variations are of course possible at any time.

After IHHT

After the treatment you may be very tired for a few days. This is because of the diseased mitochondria that were eliminated by the therapy. After all, these too produced some energy. In the following days and weeks the healthy mitochondria will multiply again and the energy level recovers, or clearly exceeds the previous state.

Effects of IHHT

• More energy and strength
• Improvement of the metabolism
• Better brain performance
• Improvement of sleep
• Possibly useful in chronic infections

Indications

• Metabolic syndrome
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Arterial hypertension
• Insulin resistance
• Obesity
• Infertility (male, female)
• Improvement of sperm quality
• Coronary heart disease
• Anaemias (including iron-deficiency anaemia)
• Fatty liver
• Improvement of physical performance
• Improvement of cognitive ability
• Pre-Alzheimer’s
• Addictive disorders (e.g. alcoholism, drug addiction)
• Mitochondrial dysfunctions
• Improvement of heart rate variability
• Preoperatively for accelerated wound healing
• Anti-ageing

Contraindications

• All acute illnesses
• Fever
• Acute headache
• Acute deterioration of any chronic illness (e.g. heart attack in CHD, status asthmaticus in bronchial asthma, etc.)
• Heart defects (e.g. with AV shunt or severe mitral or aortic stenosis)
• First trimester of pregnancy
• End stages of chronic illnesses
• Plethora vera, polycythaemia
• Thalassaemia

IHHT = cell training: mitochondrial effects as in sport

• 80% higher fat burning
• Training without sport
• Improves the oxygen supply to the cells
• Improves sleep
• More cell energy
• 40% more of the body’s own Q10
• Strengthening of the immune system
• 40% better blood flow
• Up to 70% more extensive capillarisation
• Increase in physical and mental performance
• Balancing of hormone production

Literature

Intervall Hypoxie Hyperoxie Training, Molekulare und kausale Therapie zur Behandlung chronischer Erkrankungen, Dr. med. Stephan Bortefeld, OM & Ernährung 2019 1 Nr. 169