Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is the latest infatuation in the wellness world. While it has been around for decades and used successfully for treatment of conditions such as burns, wound healing, and decompression sickness, “H-BOT”, as it’s known to insiders, has recently been touted by some as a means to reverse aging.
Take for example, biohacker Bryan Johnson, founder of the “Don’t Die” movement and “Project Blueprint” diet, whose quest to live until the age of 150 (if not forever) has been fodder for sceptics. He recently announced on X that he moved his office into his at-home hyperbaric chamber to help improve his lifespan. It’s not just biohackers breathing in the additional oxygen, Le Braun James, who invests approximately 1.5 million dollars on his physical and mental well-being per annum, reportedly uses HBOT to reduce swelling and inflammation. Renowned footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and tennis champion Novak Djokovic also rely on hyperbaric chambers to prepare for tournaments and as part of their recovery and rejuvenation routine. In the music world, superstar Justin Bieber has been open about using hyperbaric oxygen therapy to improve his mental health and combat issues like anxiety and depression. Performers like LeAnn Rimes and Madonna also publicly endorse the regimen. The treatment involves going into a pressurized chamber to breathe pure oxygen − something that isn’t naturally available in Earth’s atmosphere, which is made up of about 21% oxygen. According to medical experts, breathing 100% oxygen in short bursts can have many health benefits. The extra oxygen and higher air pressure help your lungs to draw in more oxygen and allow your body to move more oxygen from your blood to your organs and body tissues promoting healing of injuries and treating various conditions. HBOT may stimulate the production of stem cells, which can promote healing and regeneration.
“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can reduce inflammation and enhance the body’s immune response, “explains Dr. Ifeoma Okoronkwo, MD, a regenerative medicine specialist in New York City. “It does so in a way that bypasses the need to have red blood cells, going directly into the plasma which means it can be delivered to areas that may not have good blood supply. This is important because oxygen can ignite controlling the inflammatory response.”
How does this correlate with aging? The increased oxygen levels delivered during HBOT play a pivotal role in helping to reverse the effects of oxidative stress at the cellular level. This indicates the powerful potential for hyperbaric oxygen therapy to reverse the biological effects of aging. By enhancing the body’s ability to heal, adapt, and regenerate tissue, this research shows HBOT can help to slow down the aging process and potentially reduce the risk of age-related decline.
A landmark study at Tel Aviv University in Israel found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) can reverse two key biological signs of aging in humans, indicating that hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) in healthy aging adults can stop the aging of blood cells and reverse the aging process. The researchers found that a unique protocol of treatments with high-pressure oxygen in a pressure chamber can reverse two major processes associated with aging and its illnesses: the shortening of telomeres. By addressing various factors associated with age-related decline, HBOT has shown promise in reversing the biological markers of aging. Studies show this occurs where it counts the most: at the molecular level. The body responds to the increase of oxygen as a trigger which instigates the healing process. In the world of research on aging reversal, this once-distant concept shapes a now-thriving field of scientific discovery. Dr Okoronkwo,who uses cutting edge science to treat all types of degeneration of the body, feels hopeful about the healing potential of HBOT, “To date the research is not definitive because of the scale of most of the studies but it is very, very promising.”
Dorian May is a wellness and lifestyle writer and influencer
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