Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an incurable disease of the central nervous system. “Sclerosis” refers to scarring of the white matter of the brain and spinal cord. In multiple sclerosis the body’s own immune system attacks the lines of communication between nerve cells. But scientists don’t know the root cause of this mechanism. MS usually strikes young adults and in time can render a person unable to write, speak, and walk. The white matter of your brain and spinal cord is composed of bundles of axons. These axons are coated with myelin, a mixture of proteins and lipids, that helps conduct nerve signals and protect the axons. White matter's job is to conduct, process, and send nerve signals up and down the spinal cord. Damage to the white matter of your brain or spinal cord can affect your ability to move, use your sensory faculties, or react appropriately to external stimuli. Some people with damaged white matter suffer deficits in reflexive reactions.

HBOT works in MS by repairing the wounds to the nerve fibres and inhibiting inflammation. Benefits from HBOT with Dr. Harch include increased mobility, reduced fatigue, and improved equilibratory coordination. Urinary symptoms also improve, as well as nystagmus and spasticity. The most rigorous study ever performed using HBOT-treatment of MS was published in one of the most prestigious medical journals, the New England Journal of Medicine, in 1983. The study showed a statistically significant improvement in HBOT-treated MS patients compared to the control group. Patients experienced increased mobility, reduced fatigability, and improved equilibratory coordination, along with improved urinary symptoms, improvements in nystagmus (rapid beating of the eyes), and improvements in spasticity. At the one year follow-up, deterioration occurred in 12% of the HBOT group vs. 55% of the control group. In other words, HBOT had a sustained effect and prevented further deterioration. When ten to fourteen year follow-up studies were performed on MS patients in England receiving long-term treatment (one treatment every 2-4 weeks) patients demonstrated maintenance and even improvement in neurological function. Over the past two decades, extensive international medical research has demonstrated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can play an extremely important role in the treatment of MS. In many European countries, HBOT is now considered an integral part of the MS treatment program – in England alone, over 10,000 MS patients are currently receiving hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Many MS people report improvements in their overall symptoms and their functional ability. Patients have reported improvements with their ataxia (the loss of full control of bodily movements), numbness in their fingers and hands, balance, visual fields, concentration, pain, weakness, and dizziness. The medical community has been rather slow to accept HBOT as an alternative therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS). However, there is scientific evidence to suggest that oxygen treatment does have beneficial effects for MS sufferers, and increasingly doctors worldwide are recommending it as part of their patients’ care plans. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments should be initiated as soon as the condition is diagnosed, and before irreversible lesions have become established. This does not mean that patients whose diagnosis was determined more than five years previously will not benefit.