Could oxidative stress actually inhibit inflammatory colon and bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease? And could those effects ultimately treat colon cancer? These questions are challenging Ladislav Dory at the Health Science Center to research the long-term benefits of intermittent oxidative stress on cells and enzymes related to inflammatory bowel disease and possible effects of hyperbaric oxidative stress treatment on bowel and colon cancer.

"The common denominator in treating long-term, low-grade chronic bowel inflammation is oxidative stress," said Dory, PhD, professor of Molecular Biology and Immunology.

Oxidative stress is induced by submitting cells to short periods of high doses of oxygen. This treatment has been shown to reduce cholesterol and arthrosclerosis. Treating chronic inflammation with oxidative stress through hyperbaric treatment reduces arthrosclerosis by protecting the extra cellular superoxide dismutase enzyme that protects the outside of the cell.

By protecting it and holding it together, the probiotic factors are replenished and the body is stimulated to heal itself. With the knowledge that is collected from research on oxidative stress and chronic bowel inflammation, Dory hopes to determine how colon cancer is related to bowel disease and how it would respond to oxidative stress treatment.

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