HBOT, Telomeres and the Science of Cellular Renewal
On a recent trip to Victoria, BC, Al Evans visited Christopher Yam, Dr. TCM. Dr. Yam is a Chinese medicine practitioner and author of The Immortality Protocol: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Longevity Science, and the Path Toward Biological Renewal. The book’s subject led Evans and Yam into a fascinating discussion about aging, longevity and the body’s capacity to renew itself. One topic in particular stayed with Al after their conversation ended: telomeres.
Telomeres are tiny protective structures found at the ends of our chromosomes. Al compares telomeres to the plastic tips on a shoelace. These tips prevent the lace from fraying. Telomeres perform a similar job, helping protect the genetic material inside our cells. Each time a cell divides, its telomeres become shorter. Over time, this shortening becomes one of the measurable signs of biological aging. If telomere shortening is one of the signs of biological aging, could that process ever move in the opposite direction? A human study involving hyperbaric oxygen therapy suggests that it can.
After a series of HBOT treatments, researchers measured increased telomere length in several types of immune cells. The same study also found a significant reduction in certain senescent cells associated with aging. This raises an intriguing question: what might oxygen under pressure be doing inside our cells?
What happened during the HBOT study?
In 2020, the journal Aging published a study in which 35 healthy adults aged 64 and older were enrolled in a three-month course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Participants received 60 HBOT treatments, five days per week. During each treatment, they breathed 100 percent oxygen at 2 atmospheres absolute for 90 minutes, with scheduled air breaks.
Researchers collected blood samples before the treatments began, after 30 treatments, after 60 treatments and again one to two weeks following the final treatment. Researchers then measured telomere length in several types of immune cells. What they found was remarkable: telomere length increased by more than 20 percent in several immune cell populations.
The most substantial change appeared in B cells, which play an important role in the immune system. When measured one to two weeks after the final treatment, their average telomere length was nearly 38 percent greater than it had been before the HBOT protocol began.
Researchers also examined senescent cells. These are older cells that have stopped dividing and are no longer functioning as they should. Following the HBOT protocol, senescent T helper cells decreased by approximately 37 percent.
Within the same study, researchers observed longer telomeres and fewer of certain aging cells.
How could oxygen create these changes?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy combines oxygen with increased atmospheric pressure. Under pressure, much more oxygen can dissolve into the blood plasma than under normal conditions. This allows oxygen to travel throughout the body and reach tissues at levels that ordinary breathing cannot provide. However, increased oxygen delivery may only be part of what is happening.
During a series of HBOT treatments, the body repeatedly moves between the oxygen-rich environment inside the chamber and normal oxygen levels outside it. Researchers believe this change can stimulate a response known as the hyperoxic-hypoxic paradox. Although oxygen levels are not actually low, the relative decrease after treatment activates the same biological pathways the body uses when responding to low oxygen. These pathways are connected to antioxidant activity, blood-vessel formation, mitochondrial function and cellular repair. In other words, HBOT does more than deliver additional oxygen. HBOT creates an environment to which the body must respond and adapt. This response is where some of the most exciting possibilities lie.
What could this mean for healthy aging?
We tend to think of aging as a process that moves in only one direction. The telomere study offers a more interesting picture. After repeated exposure to oxygen under pressure, researchers measured changes in two recognized markers of cellular aging. Telomeres in several types of immune cells became longer, while certain senescent cells became less abundant.
This does not mean that HBOT has unlocked immortality or stopped the passage of time. However, the findings themselves are real, measurable and worthy of attention. They suggest that even later in life, our cells remain responsive to the conditions around them.
The human body is not simply a machine that wears down year after year. It is a living system that continues to adapt and repair.
We are only beginning to understand how oxygen under pressure may influence that process. Research like this provides extraordinary insight into what may be happening inside the body during a series of HBOT treatments.
Healthy aging is about more than slowing decline. It is about supporting the body’s remarkable capacity for renewal.
Curious about what hyperbaric oxygen therapy could add to your capacity for renewal?
Better call Al: 403-352-8755. 💙
O₂xy Wellness 293 Burnt Park Drive Red Deer, Alberta
Sources
Hachmo Y, et al. “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Increases Telomere Length and Decreases Immunosenescence in Isolated Blood Cells: A Prospective Trial.” Aging. 2020;12(22):22445–22456.
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