Husna, Amity University Kolkata
Aging is characterized by the progressive loss of physiological integrity which results in impaired body functions leading to a greater risk for diseases and death. This deterioration of the biological clock of our body is a major risk factor for several diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.
The aging process at a cellular level has two key hallmarks: shortening of the telomere length and cellular senescence. Telomeres are located at the end of the chromosomes and they can maintain stability in our genome. These telomeres gradually shorten by ~20-40 bases every year which is associated with different diseases, low physical activity, and cortical thinning of the brain ultimately resulting in programmed cell death and senescence. Cellular senescence is the arrest of our cell cycle which can be caused by either telomere shortening or other aging-associated stimuli such as non-telomeric DNA damage.
Researchers around the world are attempting to develop pharmacological and environmental interventions that will enable the telomere to elongate. A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) and the Shamir Medical Center in Israel has shown that hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT) done in healthy aging adults can stop their blood cells from aging as well as reverse the aging process. In the biological sense, their blood cells grow younger as the treatments progress further.
The unique treatment is done by exposure to high-pressure oxygen in a pressure chamber which reverses the two major processes linked to aging: the shortening of telomeres and the accumulation of old and non-functioning cells in the body. When the immune cells containing DNA was obtained from the participant’s blood sample, a 38% elongation in the telomeres was observed and there was a reduction of up to 37% of the senescent cells. There was a significant improvement of brain functions damaged by age, stroke, or brain injury due to hyperbaric research and therapy
Therefore, the telomere shortening is considered to be the ‘Holy Grail’ in the biology of aging. This pioneering treatment has opened the door for further research on the cellular impact of HBOT and its capability of reversing the aging process.
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Source: Hachmo Y, Hadanny A, Abu Hamed R, Daniel-Kotovsky M, Catalogna M, Fishlev G, Lang E, Polak N, Doenyas K, Friedman M, Zemel Y, Bechor Y, Efrati S. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy increases telomere length and decreases immunosenescence in isolated blood cells: a prospective trial. Aging (Albany NY). 2020; 12:22445-22456. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.202188
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Well written.
Such an interesting topic! Loved it Husna🤩🤩
Found it to be informative 👌👌keep it up…