Pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic progressive lung disease that is becoming more prevalent and poses medical challenges due to the limited therapeutic options available. The rise in the aging process along with the rise in pulmonary complications from long COVID has led to new research studies to help identify potential treatment options. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is emerging as one of them, showing good promise with clinical outcome measures. To demonstrate HBOT's influence on this disease, researchers in this study first exposed a group of rats to bleomycin (a chemotherapeutic agent that is known to cause acute pulmonary toxicity) directly into the trahea. This is to induce pulmonary fibrosis. They waited 7 days and then treated the rats with 14 days of HBOT at 2.5 ATA  for 90 minutes. The rats that were treated with this 2 week course of HBOT demonstrated a marked reduction in TGF-β, which is normally elevated and plays an active role in the development of the fibrosis.  The findings in this study support the use of HBOT as a potential "life changing" therapy for patients with pulmonary fibrosis <view study> Read Less

Intermittent hyperbaric oxygen therapy is shown to help reduce the cellular and biological aging of the body and effectively help us live longer and more important, healthier. One of the effects seen during the aging process is a decline in cerebral blood flow, causing a reduction in brain oxygen levels. Cognitive and mental performance are effected, particularly in attention and information processing speed. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help combat the decline in cognitive function by supplying the brain with a surplus of oxygen. In addition, the intermittent application of this procedure causes changes in oxygen tensions that promote promote beneficial regulatory protein changes (from the flux in oxygen levels from high to normal). These changes include an increase in SIRT1, HIF-1A, and a reduction in CD28^null senescent T helper and cytotoxic T cells.

• SIRT1 increases mitochondrial biogenesis (energy production) and attenuates telomere length thereby contributing to increased healthy life-span and reducing aging-related diseases.
• CD28^null senescent T helper and cytotoxic T cells are aging-associated biomarkers and lower levels are associated with reduction in aging
• HIF-1A  functions as a master regulator of cellular and systemic homeostatic response to hypoxia (low oxygen) by activating transcription of many genes, including those involved in energy metabolism, angiogenesis (creation of new blood vessels and circulation) and much more

As you can see, hyperbaric oxygen therapy produces numerous benefits for helping to counteract the negative effects seen from the aging process <view study> Read Less

Obesity and diabetes are both prevalent and rapidly increasing in the aging population, leading to impairment in cardiac function. In this study, rats were given a chemical compound (D-Galactose) to accelerate the aging process and produce cardiac dysfunction. The rats were pre-diabetic and  were given hyperbaric oxygen therapy 60 minutes 2.0 ATA daily. With the addition of hyperbaric therapy, the rats were able to show improvements in cardiac function, along with many other benefits. Here are the authors' conclusions for this study: "Our results indicated that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) could restore the normal cardiac function in either aging induced by D-gal rats or high-fat diet induced pre-diabetic rats. Mechanistically, HBOT effectively alleviated the cardiac dysfunction in aging pre-diabetic rats through decreased oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, dysfunctional mitochondria, metabolic and autophagic impairments. Thus, HBOT could be a potential therapeutic intervention in aging pre-diabetic people with impaired cardiac function" <view study> Read Less

The most common cause of dementia in the elderly is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been reported to have numerous physiological benefits for the brain, particularly for aging or degenerative brain disorders. This review article published in the journal of Alzheimer's disease (JAD) reviewed 391 full text articles between 1980-2021. The data from these studies showed both neurocognitive benefits along with positive clinical outcome for AD. These results led the authors of this review article to advocate for the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for AD. They also encourage future studies to be performed for protocol development, with the goal of long-term cognitive health <view study> Read Less

The combination of aging and obesity play major factors in the accelerated aging and degeneration of the brain. Commonly seen symptoms are characterized by problems with memory, language, thinking or judgment. In this study, a simple 2 week course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy was shown to be effective in restoring cognitive function. The protocol used was 2.0 ATA, 80 minutes daily, for 14 days. The researchers noted that "HBOT restored insulin sensitivity, hippocampal functions, cognition in aging and aging-obese models" in this study done on rats <view study> Read Less