HBOT and anti-aging
A study from Tel Aviv University(TAU) and the Shamir Medical Centre in Israel indicates that Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) in healthy aging adults can stop the aging process. In the biological sense, the adults’ blood cells actually grow younger as the treatment progress.
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 it’s illness:
the shortening of the telomeres(protective regions located at both ends of every chromosome) and
the accumulation of old and malfunctioning cells in the body called senescent cells.
Focusing on immune cells containing DNA obtained from the participants’ blood, the study discovered a lengthening of up to 38% of the telomeres, as well as decrease of up to 37%in the presence of senescent cells.
The study was led by Prof Shai Efrati of the Sackler School of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at TAU and Dr.Amir Hadanny, chief medical research officer at the Sagol Center of Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Shamir Medical Center. The clinical trial was conducted as part of a comprehensive Israeli research programme that targets aging as a reversible condition.
The paper was published on November 18,2020.
“For many years, our team has been engaged in hyperbaric research and therapy - treatments based on protocols of exposure to high-pressure oxygen at various concentrations inside a pressure chamber. Our achievement over the years included the improvement of brain functions damaged by age,stroke or brain injury. In the current study we wished to examine the impact of HBOT on healthy and independent aging adults, and to discover wether such treatment can slow down, stop or reverse the normal aging process at the cellular level.” Prof. Efrati explains.
“Until now, interventions such as lifestyle modifications and intense exercise were shown to have some inhibiting effect on telomeres shortening. But in this study, only three months of HBOT were able to elongate telomeres at rates far beyond any currently available interventions or lifestyle changes. With this pioneering study, we have opened a door for further research on the cellular impact of HBOT and its potential for reversing the aging process.”