Anti-aging - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

[bradleyheathhays]

Although pressurized oxygen chambers have been around for decades apparently the first anti-aging study using them has just been published and the results are amazing to say the least. What's now known is that this kind of oxygen therapy elongates what are known as your cell's telomeres, the shortening of which are directly related to, and may possibly be the cause of aging. To make a long story short, influencing telomere length is THE holy grail of anti-aging research.

So what's involved in a treatment session is getting yourself into a pressurized vessel not unlike a large propane tank. 100% oxygen is pumped in until 2.5 - 3 atmospheres is reached. Depending on what condition the therapy is prescribed for these sessions can last anywhere from 20 min to 2 hours. The benefits of pressurized oxygen have been long established and are far too long to list, from wounds that won't heal to stroke and pre-stroke victims.

The problem is that, although this therapy is technically fairly simple, it remains extremely expensive and can only be had through a doctor's prescription. Until this research was published a few months ago it wasn't known just how beneficial this therapy could be to the average person and has been reserved for patients with debilitating conditions. So my question is, how do I make one of these things happen?

Here's an example of a homemade version I think is very doable...

Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber (homemade)

So what are your all's ideas on making one of these? Where would you go to find a chamber like that for starting material?

 

[LJM]

The first thing that springs to mind I’d DO NOT fill the chamber with 2-3bar of O2.

Hyperbaric chambers are filled with air. BIBS (built in breathing systems) are used to supply other breathing gases, via an oronasal mask.

Elevated PPO2 can be risky.

There are a number of other risks with Hyperbarics, perhaps the most terrifying is that of rapid or even uncontrolled decompression.

 

[Sandyn]

I'm all for home made devices, but in this case it all sounds ultra dangerous to me. Too much scope for failure with possible fatal outcome. As soon as I see a 'miracle cure' for ageing, which requires frequent and very expensive treatment, I get a bit suspicious.

 

[LJM]

I'm all for home made devices, but in this case it all sounds ultra dangerous to me. Too much scope for failure with possible fatal outcome. As soon as I see a 'miracle cure' for ageing, which requires frequent and very expensive treatment, I get a bit suspicious.

It’s not the effectiveness of the treatment that concerns me (I’ve seen lots of people benefitting from hyperbaric therapy) but the risks associated with subjecting a person to a hyperbaric environment. It’s something that has potential to go horribly wrong.

 

[D_W]

buy yourself an oxy/mapp torch and *do this outside!!!* allow some of the oxygen to accumulate out of the torch before lighting.

See what happens.

Making your own cylinder to reside in and then accidentally finding an ignition source would result in you being dead and your house having no walls.

If you think lighting a grille is bad after propane has accumulated, oxygen is several levels higher.



(it's a bit more dramatic when it's a storage tank exploding, but I found unlit oxygen even with a simple small torch setup to be kind of alarming!! -it doesn't need to be confined to be explosive, unlike some other safer gases like propane, etc).

 

[Fitzroy]

As others have stated Oxygen is toxic above a partial pressure of 1.4atm if my memory serves. That’s one of the reasons you can’t scuba dive on compressed air below a certain depth, 70m or so. Which I thought an interesting fact when I learnt, and likely why I’ve remembered it.

I also watched a programme that discussed a enriched oxygen world, it had insects the size of mammals (due to the mechanisms they rely on being so much more effective) and everything on fire after every lightning bolt (due to higher oxygen making things burn really well).

Be careful with your experiments

Fitz

 

[LJM]

You’re correct that oxygen is toxic at elevated partial pressure; even breathing pure oxygen long term can be problematic. However, it’s considered safe at the PP described by the OP, for the right duration and with air breaks. In therapeutic use there would also be a medical attendant inside the chamber, with the patient, in case of them becoming unwell, which could be an O2 hit.

 

[eezageeza]

'...apparently the first anti-aging study using them has just been published...'

Where? By who?

 

[Argus]

buy yourself an oxy/mapp torch and *do this outside!!!* allow some of the oxygen to accumulate out of the torch before lighting.

See what happens.

Absolutely!

A golden rule................Don't smoke a fag in the pressurised container when you're knocking years off your appearance.

 

[gregmcateer]

"Anti- aging" AKA "total tosh "

Age is a function of time passing - guess what? Time will keep passing, however much someone spends on anti aging treatments. Maybe their skin will be more plump, or hair not grey, or man b**bs not sagging so much....
But they'll still be older and probably be more insecure about their looks, health, etc.

Just my two pennies worth.

 

[bradleyheathhays]

I haven't seen the original article yet but here's one referring to it. Original research done in Israel.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Study

 

[Inspector]

Since you like to ask the same question across multiple forums at the same time I will just repeat what I said on the IAP.

Personally I wouldn't have anything to do with it but if breathing more oxygen was better for your lifespan those living in Death Valley would have longer lifespans that those living in Denver or in the high Andes or Himalayan mountains.

I hope the OP is smart enough to know that Oxygen itself is not combustable but it does support all combustion. Even having a little oil in or on the hoses and lines in and out of the chamber will self ignite in the presence of pure oxygen. The chamber could end up being your crematorium. I would be scared to fart in it too but I don't know if that matters combustion wise.

Pete

 

[LJM]

There is some substance to the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen. Whether the affect in terms of halting age-ing is sufficient to warrant the time spent (to first build and ) in the chamber is not clear.

But the risks of attempting DIY hyperbaric are severe; oxygen does not need a flame to start a fire! I once had a gas blending system start to ignit, whilst pumping O2. Luckily I was able to shut it down and vent it quickly enough that it di not go BOOM. It turned out to have been started buy the very slight protrucsion in one of the hose liners of a strand of the steel braid of the hose.

 

[LJM]

Since you like to ask the same question across multiple forums at the same time I will just repeat what I said on the IAP.

Personally I wouldn't have anything to do with it but if breathing more oxygen was better for your lifespan those living in Death Valley would have longer lifespans that those living in Denver or in the high Andes or Himalayan mountains.

I hope the OP is smart enough to know that Oxygen itself is not combustable but it does support all combustion. Even having a little oil in or on the hoses and lines in and out of the chamber will self ignite in the presence of pure oxygen. The chamber could end up being your crematorium.⚱ I would be scared to fart in it too but I don't know if that matters combustion wise.

Pete

It doesn’t need oil or grease; all materials contacting high pressure O2 should be “oxygen compatible” as well as “oxygen clean”. Brass, for example is considered (by NASA) to be O2 Compatible, but stainless steel not so.

 

[Spectric]

So if living in a higher concentration of oxygen keeps you looking younger then living in a highly polluted city like London would explain why they look more stressed and aged, perhaps Peter Millard is actually just a teenager!

 

[LJM]

So if living in a higher concentration of oxygen keeps you looking younger then living in a highly polluted city like London would explain why they look more stressed and aged, perhaps Peter Millard is actually just a teenager!

He was 23 last birthday

 

[bradleyheathhays]

Glad to see the lively discussion. Well, I'm on the cusp of learning about these things so my learning curve is a little steep insofar as the home application is concerned. Turns out people who build these for themselves actually don't load it up with 100% oxygen but pressurize it with regular air and breathe 100% O2 through a mask.

So, taking the incineration variable out of the equation changes the safety profile of the entire project quite a bit I would imagine.

 

[LJM]

That does take the incineration variable away. Sources of ignition must not be taken into a hyperbaric chamber; these include fabrics which can build up a static charge.

 

[dzj]

It's good for Caisson's and similar diseases, but a lot of quackery has also been reported. Isolate yourself from the rest of the world for an hour, lift your feet up, read a book. Probably as good for anti-aging as a hyperbaric chamber.
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm always suspicious of things like this.

 

[Dave Moore]

Although pressurized oxygen chambers have been around for decades apparently the first anti-aging study using them has just been published and the results are amazing to say the least. What's now known is that this kind of oxygen therapy elongates what are known as your cell's telomeres, the shortening of which are directly related to, and may possibly be the cause of aging. To make a long story short, influencing telomere length is THE holy grail of anti-aging research.

So what's involved in a treatment session is getting yourself into a pressurized vessel not unlike a large propane tank. 100% oxygen is pumped in until 2.5 - 3 atmospheres is reached. Depending on what condition the therapy is prescribed for these sessions can last anywhere from 20 min to 2 hours. The benefits of pressurized oxygen have been long established and are far too long to list, from wounds that won't heal to stroke and pre-stroke victims.

The problem is that, although this therapy is technically fairly simple, it remains extremely expensive and can only be had through a doctor's prescription. Until this research was published a few months ago it wasn't known just how beneficial this therapy could be to the average person and has been reserved for patients with debilitating conditions. So my question is, how do I make one of these things happen?

Here's an example of a homemade version I think is very doable...

Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber (homemade)

So what are your all's ideas on making one of these? Where would you go to find a chamber like that for starting material?

This science has been known about for years but not funded very well. A friend of mine who was a North Sea diver was working on this in the 70’s with a professor in Hull using a decompression chamber researching its use on MS. Seems there favourable results but research funding was stopped. Unfortunately most research is funded by pharmaceutical companies who reap the financial benefits. No money is put into research unless there’s a payoff which is why natural treatments are not well funded.