Anti-aging - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

[LJM]

Hyperbaric therapy is used to treat ms, and to aid recovery from injury, from surgery, wounds and burns. It’s especially useful to the elderly but the young can benefit too; I know it’s been used by one of the British Lions captaincy candidates to aid hasten recovery from injury, mid tournament.

Again, it’s the safety that is the big issue here!

 

[Sandyn]

Seems it's available on the NHS for a range of conditions, so that must give it total credibility?. One condition for example is oxygen therapy for lower limb diabetic ulceration (all ages). 100% oxygen at a max 3 atmospheres absolute (ATA).
I'm still not climbing inside a home made compressor and breathing 100% oxygen

As a matter of interest what would happen to a person inside one if there was total/instant decompression at 3 ATA??

 

[Duncan A]

It would totally protect you from ever having to worry about ageing!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

If you want to live longer, eat a sensible diet (plenty of fresh fruit and veg, fresh meat, fresh fish, bit of dairy, easy on the carbs, keep your hydration up), don't smoke, drink in moderation, take a bit of regular brisk exercise and involve your mind in something absorbing like making stuff. Look after yourself, look after your family, look out for your neighbours, do something useful for the local community or the wider world.

Better staying healthy and doing a bit to help others while you're on the planet rather than spend your time worrying about dodgy maybies to prevent something that's going to happen anyway, like it or not.

 

[LJM]

Seems it's available on the NHS for a range of conditions, so that must give it total credibility?. One condition for example is oxygen therapy for lower limb diabetic ulceration (all ages). 100% oxygen at a max 3 atmospheres absolute (ATA).
I'm still not climbing inside a home made compressor and breathing 100% oxygen

As a matter of interest what would happen to a person inside one if there was total/instant decompression at 3 ATA??

The compressed gas within the body (in airspaces, in blood, bone, etc) rapidly expands; best case is severe lung over-expansion, but more likely you get squirted through the orifice (no matter how small) that caused the catastrophic decompression of the vessel.

 

[Cabinetman]

The compressed gas within the body (in airspaces, in blood, bone, etc) rapidly expands; best case is severe lung over-expansion, but more likely you get squirted through the orifice (no matter how small) that caused the catastrophic decompression of the vessel.

Like Auric Goldfinger exiting the plane!

 

[LJM]

Like Auric Goldfinger exiting the plane!

same kind of thing (a pressure differential) but with more explosive liquidation of tissues

 

[Stan]

It is possible in some people that over-oxygenation will cause the brain to shut off breathing, leading to death.

In most people the brain monitors the CO2 level in the blood. Increased CO2 increases acidity, and the brain stimulates breathing to reduce CO2 levels. In some people this mechanism does not work - the brain monitors O2 level instead. Pushing up the O2 level over more than a brief period can cause the brain to slow down or suppress breathing.

A normal healthy adult should have a blood O2 saturation ("sats") of around 96 to 98%. 100% is abnormal. Elderly adults can have sats in the low 90's and still be ok. Persons with COPD, long term heavy smokers and possibly others, may have sats around 88-92%, which for them is normal.

Each person has their own sats level of "normal". Driving it too high can be dangerous. It can also cause tissue damage. Over oxygenation can cause constriction of heart arteries - bad news for anyone with a pre-existing heart condition, whether they are aware of it or not. I suspect most of us on this forum come under "elderly", in body if not in spirit. I strongly recommend discussing it with your doctor before trying out experiments like the above.

 

[LJM]

It is possible in some people that over-oxygenation will cause the brain to shut off breathing, leading to death.

In most people the brain monitors the CO2 level in the blood. Increased CO2 increases acidity, and the brain stimulates breathing to reduce CO2 levels. In some people this mechanism does not work - the brain monitors O2 level instead. Pushing up the O2 level over more than a brief period can cause the brain to slow down or suppress breathing.

A normal healthy adult should have a blood O2 saturation ("sats") of around 96 to 98%. 100% is abnormal. Elderly adults can have sats in the low 90's and still be ok. Persons with COPD, long term heavy smokers and possibly others, may have sats around 88-92%, which for them is normal.

Each person has their own sats level of "normal". Driving it too high can be dangerous. It can also cause tissue damage. Over oxygenation can cause constriction of heart arteries - bad news for anyone with a pre-existing heart condition, whether they are aware of it or not. I suspect most of us on this forum come under "elderly", in body if not in spirit. I strongly recommend discussing it with your doctor before trying out experiments like the above.

If your body is saturated with oxygen, you can stop breathing and survive; what is important is that your body recommences respiration as the O2 level drops again.

A good example of this is Chris Lemons, the saturation diver who survived a severed umbilical incident (as depicted in the film ‘The Last Breath’). The cold aided his survival, but it was the elevated ppo2 in his body that preserved brain function and oxygenation of his tissues.

 

[D_W]

I wonder how hyperbaric treatment works compared to general moderate aerobic exercise (I'm convinced the latter is better for the brain than it is for the body).

 

[Ozi]

I shall be doing this immediately!


By immediately I mean immediately a full qualified Doctor working for the NHS invites me to a well funded hospital staffed by highly competent nursing staff.

By which time I am assuming it will be standard treatment for the over 120 year olds.


Taking it more seriously, there is some very interesting work published on anti aging, I think I remember correctly that the age limit for mice can be doubled but I'm not expecting any more than my allotted 3 score and 10 and not banking on that. The worlds got bigger problems to solve first.

 

[Sandyn]

I seriously wouldn't want to live until I'm 140 or 200. What a miserable old git I would be at that age

 

[Dave Moore]

Before attempting this you should learn to breathe correctly. Slow, reduced volume breathing through the nose at all times. Look at Patrick McKeown on youtube.

 

[eezageeza]

As it happens, I know someone who knows a bit about this stuff....the study that the OP mentioned above is interesting, but a long way from conclusive in its findings - they did see elongation of telomeres, and this is something which is expected to influence longevity, but there is no evidence to suggest that that alone with have an effect. It is also unclear how long the effect may last, or how lengthening telomeres in this way may interact with other parts of the aging process.
So don't rush to build yourself a pressure chamber just yet, there's more research to be done!
There is a huge amount of research going into ageing right now, not just to elongate life, but also because getting people to age better will also reduce a lot of the diseases of old age, giving us a healthier dotage.
Regardless of how you feel about living longer, living healtier for longer is surely a good thing.

 

[doctor Bob]

same kind of thing (a pressure differential) but with more explosive liquidation of tissues

A bit like pressure build up after 10 pints of lowenbrau and a vindaloo?

 

[LJM]

A bit like pressure build up after 10 pints of lowenbrau and a vindaloo?

perfect illustration

 

[bradleyheathhays]

Thank you everybody for your input. I've gotten suggestions from many different viewpoints which is what I was hoping for. Yes I am more cautious than my original post might imply, its just the upswing for this could be fairly big so it's gotten my attention. Thanks eezageeza for your specific knowledge in these things. I agree, there's lots more research to be done.

 

[JandK]

Hyperbaric therapy is used to treat ms, and to aid recovery from injury, from surgery, wounds and burns. It’s especially useful to the elderly but the young can benefit too; I know it’s been used by one of the British Lions captaincy candidates to aid hasten recovery from injury, mid tournament.

Again, it’s the safety that is the big issue here!

Correct me if I am wrong but I remember that the Welsh Rugby team used it in preparation of a RWC campaign needless to say Wales have never won the RWC. So the effectiveness of this treatment could be questioned lol

 

[Geoff_S]

There is only one way to stop getting older.

 

[Stan]

I read somewhere that when Michael Caine became 60, some stupid reporter asked him how it felt to be 60. His reply was that considering the alternative, it wasn't too bad.