Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for healthy aging: From mechanisms to therapeutics

Aging entails a progressive decline in physiological functions, significantly impacting quality of life and increasing susceptibility to age-related diseases. Stem cell therapy, young plasma transfusion, physical exercise, intermittent fasting, and senotherapeutics are among the interventions showing promise in combating aging. Despite oxygen's crucial role in tissue homeostasis and survival, it paradoxically contributes to aging. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of aging provides clinicians with numerous therapeutic targets, including those addressed by hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which promotes tissue homeostasis and regeneration.

However, HBOT research faces challenges due to varying protocols, hindering comparison of results. Updated clinical protocols tailored to the aging population are needed, highlighting the importance of establishing a universally applicable HBOT protocol. Recent advancements have seen HBOT applied to new medical conditions, utilizing lower oxygen pressures and increased daily sessions. 

One emerging protocol involves 60 daily sessions of HBOT at 2 ATA for 90 minutes, interspersed with intermittent air breaks. This protocol induces beneficial effects in aging populations, including transcriptome changes, telomere elongation, cognitive enhancement, skin rejuvenation, and improved pulmonary function parameters, through a mechanism known as the hyperoxic-hypoxic paradox.