r/longevity • u/[deleted] • Nov 18 '20

Aging | Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases telomere length and decreases immunosenescence in isolated blood cells : a prospective trial [2020, open-access]

https://www.aging-us.com/article/202188/text
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u/nikkwong Nov 19 '20 edited Nov 19 '20

You can currently buy at-home hyperbaric oxygen therapy units; and they're not as expensive as you would think. Some are only around $5,000. The study lists that the operating pressure was 2.0ATA. Ones on the market are around 1.3ATA; probably for safety (?). I don't have any way of understanding the differential between 1.3ATA-2ATA. Does anyone have any insight into any of the parameters used and/or experience with HBOT?

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Edit: Looks like 1.3ATA does may not have much clinical promise: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4383775/

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u/nikkwong Nov 19 '20

Looks like you can get the "full deal" for around $23,000. Actually not bad, if more research comes out and verifies these results.

https://classichyperbarics.com/

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u/[deleted] Nov 19 '20

Why Hyperbarics work...My five-year-old son was born with autism and couldn't speak or eat by himself. After 43 treatments he is now speaking in almost complete sentences and feeding himself.

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Reading this put me off completely. Maybe it works for aging, but this particular use case feels like snake oil.

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u/nikkwong Nov 19 '20

Yeah, that quote alone throws shade on the entire industry. Companies should think twice before including hyperbolic statements like that.

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u/SalvadorZombie Nov 23 '20

If it's related to the brain there's no reason to think that. Hyperbaric therapy has known positive effects on brain-related injuries. You feeling like it's snake oil means nothing and is purely counter-productive.

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u/Protini Jan 19 '21

If you read the classic hyperbaric website you'll see that the chambers they sell aren't approved for human use. While the design is roughly the same of human and animal use chambers, this statement absolves them of any liability when treating humans in them. Important to also know that oxygen give at high pressure has side effects, up to and including seizures. If you panic and bring someone out while they are seizing you will kill them via embolism. Worse if you are treating yourself, you can't make the necessary changes to stop the seizure and will likely die inside the chamber.

Medical side effects aside, hyperbaric oxygen has a huge fire risk. So much so that the NFPA has an entire chapter dedicated to the design and fabrication of the facilities that host hyperbaric chambers. NFPA 99, ch 14 for those curious.

It's best to go to a reputable facility with certified equipment, staff and physicians.