Dr. Joseph Dituri’s story of spending 100 days underwater gained worldwide attention back in June when he resurfaced from the Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, shattering former record attempts. Now we are learning more about the health benefits that came along with that study. The retired Navy diver and Executive Director of the International Board of Undersea Medicine said being underwater for so long was like being in a hyperbaric chamber. He told Matt Austin and Ginger Gadsden on the Florida’s Fourth Estate podcast that being nestled about 30 feet under the lagoon for more than three months, reversed the age of his DNA. “I’m 56 now. My extrinsic age was 44. When I got out of the water my extrinsic age was 34. So my telomeres lengthened, I actually got younger when I was under the water,” Dituri said. To better explain how it works, Dituri explained, “On the end of your chromosome, you have these little extensions.... and every time you replicate this, the telomere shrinks, shrinks, shrinks, shrinks, shrinks... let’s just say you get one-thousand replications. That’s all you get. When the telomeres are gone, you have no more ability to replicate, that’s called cell death... so that is truly the world-class definition of aging. But, if you can make that telomere longer you can actually extend life.” He said 9 months later his telomeres are still longer than they otherwise would be. Those aren’t the only benefits. Dituri said he also had 17 times the number of stem cells as usual and a reduction in pain which was likely associated with the fact that his inflamatory markers were reduced by 50%. He said these kinds of results are promising but not altogether surprising. He said hyperbaric treatment has been used for hundreds of years and is currently being used to treat people with brain injuries and PTSD because of its ability to help with cognitive issues. However, the treatment is not open to everyone. He said people interested in getting it do need a prescription from a doctor and treatments can start at $250 per hour. You can learn more about the results of Dituri’s time underwater for 100 days and the following research that took him into weightlessness on Florida’s Fourth Estate. You can download the podcast from wherever you listen to podcasts or watch anytime on News 6+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices