Scientists “reverse effects of aging” with an innovative treatment

Apparently, scientists have been able to reverse some of the effects of aging for up to 25 years in a landmark study.

Using oxygen therapy, the researchers returned the bodies of a group of 35 adults aged 64 and older to a cellular level last seen a quarter of a century earlier.

The study, published in the journal Aging, saw volunteers placed in pressurized oxygen chambers in Israel and given pure oxygen to breathe through a mask.

The sessions lasted 90 minutes each and were held five days a week for three months.

Scientists showed that this treatment was able to reverse two key indicators of biological aging: the shortening of telomeres and the accumulation of malfunctioning senescent cells.

As humans get older, their bodies undergo the shortening of telomeres – the protective caps on chromosomes – which leads to diseases including cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Senescent cells, also known as “zombie cells”, prevent regeneration as they build up in the body over time.

The pressurized chamber works by mimicking a state of “hypoxia” or oxygen deficiency. This allows the tissues to dissolve more oxygen, leading to the regenerative effects.

The results of the study showed that telomeres regrown by more than 20%, while the senescent cells of the volunteers had been reduced by up to 37%.

This is the equivalent of how their bodies were at the cellular level 25 years ago, the scientists said.

Professor Shai Efrati, professor at Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medicine and co-author of the study, said: “As telomere shortening is considered the ‘Holy Grail’ of the biology of aging, many pharmacological and environmental interventions have been extensively explored in hopes of allowing telomere elongation.

“The significant improvement in telomere length shown during and after these unique protocols provides the scientific community with a new basis for understanding that aging can indeed be targeted and reversed at the basic cellular biological level.”

Some scientists believe aging can be cured, like a disease, and the study is the latest attempt to understand the aging process and examine ways to increase life expectancy and make people feel younger.

It was previously established that lifestyle changes such as eating healthy and exercising regularly can preserve telomere length, but this was the first time external interventions have been shown to have the same effect.

Dr Amir Hadanny, researcher on the study, said: ‘Until now, interventions such as lifestyle modifications and strenuous exercise have been shown to have some inhibitory effect on the shortening of the expected telomere length.

“However, what is noteworthy in our study is that, in just three months of therapy, we were able to achieve such significant telomere lengthening, at rates far superior to any intervention or lifestyle modification. currently available “.

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