Blood Oxygenation Treatment Might Cure Severe Swine Flu Infections

Using a special medical treatment that oxygenates the blood may save the lives of people with severe H1N1 flu ("swine flu") infections, according to new research from Britain. The procedure, called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, basically involves adding oxygen to a person's blood outside of the body and then returning it to the body. It's a powerful (but expensive) technology that's already used to treat patients with severe respiratory problems, including newborn babies born prematurely.

Researchers took a close look at cases where patients developed breathing problems due to H1N1 infections. They noticed that people who received the oxygenation treatment were much less likely -- about 50% less likely in fact -- to die from the viral infection than those who didn't get the treatment.

There are already several types of mainstream oxygen therapies used to treat a variety of ailments. Also, many alternative health practitioners consider oxygen-boosting treatments -- such as hydrogen peroxide and ozone treatments -- to be among the best "natural" health treatments out there. The study's authors say that factors other than the oxygenation procedure might be responsible for the decreased risk of death, but it's reasonable to believe that significantly boosting oxygen levels in the blood directly or indirectly killed the H1N1 virus and saved lives.

Learn some mo': Oxygenating Blood of Hospitalized H1N1 Flu Patients Saved Lives