Retired Navy diver Joseph Dituri’s experiment began on March 1, 2023: the man spent 100 days at a depth of about 30 feet underwater in the Atlantic Ocean. All the while, he was in a high-pressure environment, which he believed could reverse his age at a cellular level.
When the experiment concluded last June, Dituri said blood tests showed a 50% reduction in all inflammatory markers in the body, with 17 times more stem cells than before the experiment began, and telomeres, thought to be linked to prolonging life, were lengthened.
During the experiment, the diver’s age was 56 years old, while he looked 44 years old, and when he rose from the ocean floor, his biological age was a whopping 34 years old. Then the researcher stated that he really became younger underwater.
There are telomeres at the ends of our chromosomes, like the plastic dots at the ends of shoelaces. Every time human cells divide, telomeres shorten. Once they disappear, the chromosome disintegrates and the cell dies.
Some researchers believe that long-term maintenance of telomeres could ultimately allow cells to live longer, which would slow the aging process overall. This theory has not yet been experimentally proven in humans, but in hopes of slowing the aging process, some teams of genetic engineers are working to lengthen telomeres.
After the experiment, Dituri claimed that his telomeres were still shorter than at the beginning of life, but longer than at the beginning of the experiment. Additionally, the researcher reported improved cognitive skills during his time underwater.
The change in biological age is believed to be related to living underwater in high-pressure or ‘hyperbaric’ environments. Note that modern hyperbaric chambers contain pure oxygen, but during underwater pressurization the mixture becomes closer to the composition of ordinary air.
After the experiment, Dituri also stated that as a result of being underwater, the number of his stem cells increased seventeen times. Stem cells can develop into any other type of cell in the body and are therefore associated with regenerative medicine.
Note that all of the above effects were observed in Dituri after 100 days of exposure to a hyperbaric environment. About nine months have passed since the experiment was completed and the researcher says he is still experiencing some positive health effects.
Dituri himself admits that he still treats hyperbaric therapy with some caution – the research is not yet completed and therefore it is worth continuing to study all possible applications of the therapy.
