Study finds hyperbaric oxygen treatments halt the aging of blood cells and reverses the aging process.
A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Shamir Medical Center in Israel indicates that hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) in healthy aging adults can stop the aging of blood cells and reverse the aging process. In the biological sense, the adults’ blood cells actually grow younger as the treatments 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 its illnesses: the shortening of telomeres (protective regions located at both ends of every chromosome) and the accumulation of old and malfunctioning cells in the body. 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 a decrease of up to 37% in the presence of senescent cells.
The study was led by Professor Shai Efrati of the Sackler School of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at TAU and Founder and Director of the Sagol Center of Hyperbaric Medicine at the Shamir Medical Center; and Dr. Amir Hadanny, Chief Medical Research Officer of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Shamir Medical Center. The clinical trial was conducted as part of a comprehensive Israeli research program that targets aging as a reversible condition.
The paper was published in Aging on November 18, 2020.
Exploring Oxygen Therapy in Healthy Seniors
“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,” Professor Efrati explains. “Our achievements 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 whether such treatments can slow down, stop or even reverse the normal aging process at the cellular level.”
The researchers exposed 35 healthy individuals aged 64 or over to a series of 60 hyperbaric sessions over a period of 90 days. Each participant provided blood samples before, during, and at the end of the treatments as well as some time after the series of treatments concluded. The researchers then analyzed various immune cells in the blood and compared the results.
Significant Telomere Elongation and Cell Rejuvenation
The findings indicated that the treatments actually reversed the aging process in two of its major aspects: The telomeres at the ends of the chromosomes grew longer instead of shorter, at a rate of 20%-38% for the different cell types; and the percentage of senescent cells in the overall cell population was reduced significantly – by 11%-37% depending on cell type.
“Today telomere shortening is considered the ‘Holy Grail’ of the biology of aging,” Professor Efrati says. “Researchers around the world are trying to develop pharmacological and environmental interventions that enable telomere elongation. Our HBOT protocol was able to achieve this, proving that the aging process can in fact be reversed at the basic cellular-molecular level.”
“Until now, interventions such as lifestyle modifications and intense exercise were shown to have some inhibiting effect on telomere shortening,” Dr. Hadanny adds. “But in our study, only three months of HBOT were able to elongate telomeres at rates far beyond any currently available interventions or lifestyle modifications. 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.”
Reference: “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases telomere length and decreases immunosenescence in isolated blood cells: a prospective trial” by Yafit Hachmo, Amir Hadanny, Ramzia Abu Hamed, Malka Daniel-Kotovsky, Merav Catalogna, Gregory Fishlev, Erez Lang, Nir Polak, Keren Doenyas, Mony Friedman, Yonatan Zemel, Yair Bechor and Shai Efrati, 18 November 2020, Aging.
DOI: 10.18632/aging.202188
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12 Comments
This explains why pilots who have spent lots of time on oxygen look damned good.
Commonsense tells us that because of this test,
The scientist and world leaders are on the wrong course and destroying out planet with a system that destroys
This earth should be loaded with oxygen and is not because of the greed for profit, and cutting of trees (Xmas) and the use of fossil fuels, and the promotion of mechanical devices used to pollute, The excess of oil drilling and oil spills
Blame the brain dead governments who think they are God and are not, as they disregard everything for their own selfish ways.
aww shut up ‘idiot’
You forgot its not just plain old air theyre using…
So, Michael Jackson has been right all along?
In what way?
>>> … of the Sackler School of Medicine
Wow, that study sounds real reliable. Does it also involve oxycontin?
Should i get a home hyperbaric chamber? If this is the same thing they use for the bends, its time to make more and start filing people into them.
I was thinking the same thing (who doesn’t want to reverse aging), but it looks like they cost $10,000 and up.
I found that there are also clinics you can go to for the service, but it is $250 – $500 per session and takes 2-3 hours. In this study the participants had 60 sessions in 90 days. That would make this very expensive and time consuming.
A better biomarker is required such a methylation clock. Your biomarkers are not convincing.
Senescent cell reduction is the key, here. The buildup of senescent cells are what, to a large part, determine age. Kurzweil’s idea was to find a way to remove senescent cells from the body. Also, the study only looked for effects on telomere length and senescent cell reduction. How this would effect other parts of the body and any latent abnormalities is an unknown.
Hello, I would like to tell you about an article I read back in the 70s about a scientist, Jacques Cousteau, Marine Biologist, who was on a marine expedition. At that time he had a team doing a scuba diving mission for quite some time. When the team completed the task, they stayed in a Hyperbaric chamber to decompress and after exiting the chamber, they noticed that their beard growth had stopped dramatically. I thought wow, this looks like the aging process has slowed down! What a rush! Now I recently learned that people are using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to reverse the aging process. Just wanted to share this with you. Take care, stay young!