Those 60 or older may notice a deterioration in short-term memory such as often losing things, forgetting important events or appointments, difficulty remembering words or staying focused. Cognitive function peeks around the age of 30, and from there begins a slow, steady decline that can eventually lead to dementia or Alzheimer’s.

According to Dr. Shai Efrati, a physician and an associate professor at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sagol School of Neuroscience at Tel Aviv University and director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center, in Israel, “The occlusion of small blood vessels (atherosclerosis), like the occlusions which may develop in the pipes of an aging home, is a dominant element in the human aging process. We found that HBOT induced a significant increase in brain blood flow, which correlated with cognitive improvement. We can conjecture that similar beneficial effects of HBOT can be induced in other organs of the aging body.”

HBOT addresses this by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) to reestablish blood flow to the tissue not getting enough oxygen in the same way it stimulates new blood vessel growth to repair non-healing diabetic wounds.

The primary generators of cellular energy are the mitochondria located in every cell. Their numbers and functioning efficiency decrease with age. HBOT has shown in several studies that it can improve and restore the decreased mitochondrial function.

As we go through life, tissue and organs become damaged. Stem cells are produced by the body to repair that damaged tissue. The regenerative process is much more efficient in young people because of higher numbers and more efficient stem cells. As we age, the number of stem cells decreases, along with their function, because of mitochondrial dysfunction. Aging also results in a failure to regenerate the damage due to a decrease in the number of stem cells.

HBOT induces stem cell mobilization from the bone marrow to the blood stream at up to an eight-fold increase, including the differentiation of stem cells to the different tissues such as heart, muscle, kidney and brain to aid in their repair.

 As we age, the caps on the ends of the chromosomes (telomeres) shorten. This has been considered the holy grail of the biology of aging. Senescent cells are old, malfunctioning cells that harm the body.

In 2020, Efrati’s group released a peer-reviewed study that showed for the first time that telomere length could be increased by more than 20 percent and senescent (deteriorating) cells decreased up to 37 percent. Their protocol consisted of 60 HBOT treatments five days per week for 12 weeks. Patients reported improvement in short-term memory, attention, information processing speed and executive functions.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment administered in a chamber in which the patient breathes 100 percent oxygen under pressure. This produces up to a 15-fold increase in blood oxygen concentration, causing oxygen to diffuse into every cell in the body, stimulating healing in all tissue, including the brain. It is an extremely safe, non-invasive, painless therapy. 

Dr. Roger Hunter is the owner of Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute, located at 146 Medical Park Rd., Ste. 110, in Mooresville. For more information or a free consultation, call 704-471-4100 or visit NirvanaHBO.com.

Nirvana Hyperbaric Institute - 146 Medical Park Rd Ste 110, Mooresville, NC

About Nirvana Dedicated to healing. Dedicated to forwarding the science of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Dedicated to providing patients with a tranquil place to heal in comfort. Why... Read More »