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Category Archives: Anti-Aging Medicine

The Grooming Products Men Should Be Using, According to Women – InsideHook

There are a lot of things you can put on your face. Add that to the number of things you can put in your hair and on the rest of your body, and its no wonder men have developed a reputation for just reaching for the first bottle of 3-in-1 combination shampoo + conditioner + body wash and calling it a day.

But while I cant blame anyone not born into the same gendered societal strictures that demand women spend countless amounts of time, money and energy on maintaining their physical wellbeing for taking advantage of those lower cultural beauty standards, the fact of the matter remains that a razor and a bar of soap does not a proper grooming routine make. While men may be able to get away with a minimalist approach to matters of cosmetic wellbeing for longer than their female counterparts, neglecting hair and skincare will catch up with you eventually, if it hasnt already.

To help you navigate the vast and intimidating world of mens grooming, we tapped those who know it best: women. Below, four high-profile female experts pull a few of the products they swear by that youll love, too. Consider it an expert-guided tour of your girlfriends medicine cabinet, only you can take as much as you want.

Celebrity hairstylist Netty Jordan recommends this super light and hydrating moisturizer for poreless looking skin, great clean and light scent. While this oil-free anti-aging cream is a bestseller among women, Jordan says its light, barely-there effect makes it perfect for men too. When working with men I always like to keep it clean and light, you always want them to feel like they are wearing nothing on their skin, she tells InsideHook.

Jordan recommends this product for in-control curls. Weighs the hair down for a livened and natural woke up like this hair.

Men and women alike wake up some days feeling tired and puffy. A little bit of nourishing eye cream goes a long way to depuff and even out the delicate skin under the eyes, says celebrity makeup artist and male groomer Amy Zdunowski-Roeder. Brickell Mens Restoring Eye Cream is superb. Its all natural, reduces puffiness quickly and makes you look alive and awake!

For the over-40 set, Zdunowski-Roeder recommends checking out this eye cream instead. Its great for men who are in their 40s and older, she tells InsideHook. Works fast and nourishes. Great stuff!

Gentlemen, please wash your face with an actual facial cleanser. So many men I know use a bar of soap to wash their face, says Zdunowski-Roeder. Bad idea! Bar soap is way too drying and harsh, she says, explaining that this rudimentary approach to cleansing literally strips away natural oils from the skin while also leaving micro-residue on the skins surface. Gentle facial washes, however, like this Khiels one, are designed to clean the face while leaving the balance of the skin intact, she says.

The Tangle Teezer has gained a following over the years as the original detangling brush, but you dont have to have a ton of hair to reap the benefits of this styling tool. L.A.-based celebrity hairstylist Holly Mills recommends men use one to loosen dead skin before a shower and to stimulate blood flow for a healthy scalp, which can help prevent hair loss.

If youre a beginner feeling totally adrift in the wide world of grooming, New York City-based cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Michele Green, M.D. recommends this all-in-one Bevel Bundle to start you off on the right foot. Complete with a cleanser, moisturizer and toner that Green says will prevent any ingrown hairs, exfoliate the skin and accelerate cell turnover, the Bevel Bundle is an easy way to build some semblance of a skincare routine. Youre welcome.

I am not a grooming expert of any kind, but this is one mens grooming product that I, a humble, non-expert woman, swear by. You can read me wax poetic about it here, or you can just buy it.

Nota bene: If you buy through the links in this article, InsideHook may earn a small share of the profits.

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The Grooming Products Men Should Be Using, According to Women - InsideHook

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Aspen Princess: J Lo’s 50 looks a little different than Aspen 50 and we like it like that – Aspen Times

Youre turning 50 this year, too, right? I asked my friend Denise when I ran into her at the ARC the other day. She was herding her two boys around to their various after-school activities and looking slightly overwhelmed.

Ive known Denise since I first moved here in 2002 and weve been on the same trajectory ever since. We both ditched our professional career trajectories to become snowboard instructors; we were both riddled by disastrous relationships throughout our 30s; we met our husbands around the same time, got married around the same time, and had kids in our forties. We both left our hard-partying, bad-judgment days behind us and managed to forge a happy life that balances family, career and still leaves a little room for resort-living fun.

She nodded. Yep, Im turning 50. Now I just need a crotch-less bodysuit like J Lo.

Theres no doubt that 50 has been redefined thanks to J Lo and the unforgettable Super Bowl halftime show that quickly eclipsed images of Kobe Bryant and instead clogged your social media feed with golden curves, lots of glitter and a mane of honey-colored hair. Some were offended by its sexually provocative tone (A little too many crotch shots for this Mimi, my mother-in-law commented), and some were inspired by it. Some loved the message of diversity and the political overtones celebrating diversity, immigrants and the Latino culture that has become an integral part of America.

Many women complained that J Lo had simply had made them feel bad about themselves, especially at an age when youre supposed to be let off the hook for trying to reach an ideal look. The best-selling Chick Lit author Jennifer Weiner, (who is my age and from the same small town in Connecticut as me) wrote an op-ed in The New York Times with the headline, I Feel Personally Judged by J Los Body and bemoaned the fact that this incredible performance by this talented performer had left her feeling bad about herself.

I recently interviewed a 46-year-old entrepreneur who told me, I am anti-anti-aging. She explained she has decided to embrace the natural aging process and as such will not interfere with cosmetic medicine or even go so far as coloring her graying hair.

Good for her.

I would pour battery acid over my head if I thought it was going to make me look younger. In fact, I do slather my face every night with everything from salicylic acid and retinol to pumpkin enzymes to fight the signs of aging. Ill inject anything into my face as long as it makes me look younger and has less than a 1% chance of permanently maiming or killing me. I will die with blonde hair, thank you very much. I havent seen a glimpse of my real hair color since I discovered the peroxide treatment Sun In in 1983 and have no reason to go back now.

I dont need J Lo to make me hard on myself. Ive been doing that for more than half my life already.

Still, I understand shes a performer, she won the genetic lottery, and can hire a glam squad to provide the endless treatments available to combat aging. If I could afford a $1,000 laser facial once a month, I would do it, too. If you have the money, you can look amazing whether you have genetics on your side or not. Theres literally nothing cosmetic medicine cant fix just look at Khloe Kardashian.

J Lo isnt the first one to maintain a youthful, flawless appearance longer than seems fair. Jane Fonda, Cher and Christie Brinkley have been doing it for decades. Hell, Katherine Hepburn was around long before Botox was invented, but she managed to stay young by swimming in the ice-cold Atlantic ocean in front of her house in Fenwick, Connecticut, every single day, even in winter.

Aspen, like Hollywood, is a land of beautiful people who can afford this stuff. We also have the luxury of an active lifestyle and an outdoor paradise that makes it easy to stay healthy and take good care of ourselves. Weve already set the bar pretty high we dont need J Lo for that.

I have to admit, when I look in the mirror on the eve of my fifth decade and what is invariably past the midway point of my life, I see signs of aging I dont like. I ponder how far Im willing to go and for how long Im willing to fight a battle I cant win. Maybe that woman I interviewed who is anti-anti-aging already won. Or maybe shes still too young to make that claim.

Maybe I am hard on myself when my body isnt as toned as I would like, despite the hours I put in working out or the foods I dont allow myself to eat. Maybe I do wish I could afford those laser treatments or even a little nip-and-tuck (though after my recent eye surgery I did realize that cosmetic surgery is where I have to draw the line of how far Im willing to go and the risks Im willing to take).

Then I realized what makes me feel young isnt what I see in the mirror. Its standing on top of Highland Bowl or ripping through the playful terrain in Hanging Valley Glades at Snowmass. Its standing on my hands in yoga and still being able to still do splits and backbends. Its hurtling myself into the ball pit in the Game Room at The Collective at Snowmass Base Village after skiing the tree trails with my young son. Its stealing a romantic kiss with my husband of almost a decade on the gondola, when we have to turn our heads to an awkward angle to touch lips with our goggles on.

Those are the moments when I think to myself, Pretty good for 50.

The Princess has only 24 days left in her 40s. Email your love to alisonmargo@gmail.com.

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Aspen Princess: J Lo's 50 looks a little different than Aspen 50 and we like it like that - Aspen Times

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Decompression therapy, anti-aging, more giving chiropractors strategic edge – Chiropractic Economics

These four specialized services can help put your practice in the lead, with anti-aging and decompression therapy riding a popularity wave

Whether youre incorporating decompression therapy into your practice or taking your skills on the road to corporate settings, you can explore a variety of specialized services that enhance patient health and wellness and ultimately increase cash flow. Here, we talk with four experts who teach and support chiropractors in specialized therapies that are proving popular with patients across the country and around the world.

Most chiropractors know about decompression tables and the companies that market and sell them. Jeff VanderWal, president of HillDT Solutions and his partner Tim Burkhart, DC, have expanded their involvement with this technology beyond the chiropractors point of purchase.

HillDT Solutions sells decompression tables and also provides comprehensive training, certification, and ongoing clinical support to its chiropractor clients for decompression therapy.

There are a lot of products out there that are more traction-based, and VanderWals company was created as the result of a void he perceived to be in the market: Years ago, my partner (Burkhart) bought a decompression table that came with nothing more than a DVD, and it took him months to figure out how to use it and get consistent results.

VanderWals company focuses on selling and providing clinical training and support for its own brand of decompression tables for decompression therapy. Sales agents can explain the basic functionality, but if you have a complex case, who do you go to for answers? We developed a master team of chiropractors who have experience developing best practices. And these best practices are incorporated into his companys training and certification program.

VanderWal says that chiropractors are well-suited to provide decompression therapy services with this technology. Changing health insurance models are resulting in more surgeons losing patients to less-invasive or lower-cost therapies, he explains, and chiropractors could be benefiting from this increased business.

As a chiropractor, you are an expert on the spine, he says. Decompression is an extension of what you already know and will allow you to provide therapy to patients who may not respond to traditional chiropractic care.

VanderWal says he understands chiropractors initial hesitance to enter the area of decompression therapy, adding that this hesitation goes beyond the cost of investing in the technology.

Chiropractors have a natural compassion for their patients, and with decompression, they may be concerned about uncertainty of outcome, he says. Its hard for them to ask a patient for $3,000, and when they do, they think, Boy, thisd better work. Part of it is also credibility, and we strive to transfer credibility to our chiropractor clients. The ongoing mentoring we provide helps in this regard tremendously.

Marketing decompression therapy varies from practice to practice, VanderWal says. It depends on where you are in terms of years in the profession and patient base.

If youre a new physician trying to generate new patients, you will probably take a more aggressive role in marketing this technology, he explains. For the chiropractor in practice 20 years, youll find you have a lot of good candidates for this therapy right under your nose. Maybe some patients have hit a plateau and have not progressed. This therapy can help chiropractors achieve better outcomes for their patients.

Any chiropractors interested in pursuing an investment in decompression therapy technology should remember that the therapy is an add-on and not meant to replace traditional chiropractic services.

This is a complementary therapy that you can add to your practice and do remarkable things for your patients, including relief in complex disc cases, he says. Physicians who put their heart into it will succeed. The capital investment takes care of itselfthat is the last thing to worry about.

Nelson Thibodeaux, founder of Texas Biostetic Instruments, says hes found an excellent way for chiropractors to augment their regular practice with natural anti-aging therapies that can achieve increased satisfaction and wellness in patients, all while enhancing cash flow.

For more than 10 years, Thibodeauxs company has been providing training, equipment, and support to chiropractors in the noninvasive arts of microcurrent and LED fat-loss therapies. All-cash services open up a lot of additional opportunities for DCs, he says. We have specialized in primarily Class 1 devices that are readily available to use, and these treatments have even been endorsed by some chiropractic boards.

According to Thibodeaux, natural microcurrent therapies that serve as both a pain management device as well as a tool for firming, toning, and rejuvenation have greatly advanced as a result of the Department of Defenses underwritten research in regenerative medicine for wounded soldiers. Some devices can even incorporate a product whose active ingredient mimics tropoelastin (a precursor to the generation of elastin in the body) into microcurrent therapy to effect immediate improvement in skin elasticity.

With the right system, a DC can provide visible face lifts, and offer clients toning and slimming in the abdomen, legs, and arms, Thibodeaux says. And radiant lipolysis treatments promote weight and fat loss in the abs, arms, legs, bust, and buttocks as part of an unattended treatment.

Thibodeaux says that chiropractors are in a unique position to augment their current practice with anti-aging services. Chiropractors typically have a majority population of female patients, he says. These patients are interested in their overall wellness and health.

Thibodeauxs company provides on-site microcurrent and other anti-aging treatments and also trains chiropractors in the use of its systems. In addition, the company offers a full range of products that, when used in combination with the equipment, provide synergistic reactions that result in anti-aging rejuvenation and extend the results of treatments.

With regard to establishing price points for patients, Thibodeaux says that typically an office can recoup its investment on a device after selling about a half-dozen treatment packages.

One of our approaches with chiropractors when it comes to marketing is that we train them to show results to their patients, he says. We tell them to take a patient in and explain to them that this is a natural procedure; it will take a little longer, but it is not a $20,000 plastic surgery. We will do one treatment on half of the face and take a photo, then finish the treatment. Afterwards, we show the patient the dramatic difference between the treated side and the untreated side.

According to Thibodeaux, the best advice he can give to chiropractors looking to succeed in the anti-aging and wellness field starts and ends with motivating your employees.

You have to instill excitement in your staff, he says, adding that team members will introduce patients to these offerings with enthusiasm. You also have to look at your entire patient base and use that as a baseline to start this part of your business. This is an opportunity to reach out to patients you havent seen in five years.

Bryan Muth, DC, has mastered an approach to providing chiropractic care that takes his skills out of the traditional private practice and brings them to corporations and their employees firsthand.

Muth leads corporate wellness at Standard Process, and serves as the medical services manager for Cultivate, an on-site, chiropractic-led wellness company. He has made a career out of providing nutritional, ergonomic, and chiropractic therapies to corporate employees, while also training and certifying chiropractors who are interested in pursuing this same specialization path.

Muth says he finds a great deal of satisfaction in providing his services via this on-site corporate model because the results significantly impact employee wellness and performance.

By helping businesses improve employee health factors and achieve productivity gains, you are a transformative force within a business, Muth says. It also stands to reason youre creating value and, as a result, new career opportunities, security, and practice expansion for yourself as a chiropractor.

According to Cultivate research, the on-site, chiropractic-centered wellness model results in statistically and clinically significant differences in employee health, including the reduction of long-term illnesses.

The correlation of healthier, happier employees being more productive and less likely to incur health-related costs flows naturally from report findings, says Jerry Curtin, Cultivates president and general manager.

Muth agrees. I started looking into nutrition and longevity and realized that making a career out of combining these factors with results-driven chiropractic therapies can really make a difference in patients lives, he says.

Cultivate offers a comprehensive certification program that equips chiropractors with the tools they need to influence employee nutrition, musculoskeletal health, and overall productivity. If youre looking to enter this branch of chiropractic services, youll need to acquire skills and knowledge in the areas of HIPAA regulations, nutrition, fitness, employee safety, and more.

Weve seen firsthand the impact that dedicated, trained chiropractors can have being on-site as part of an organizations overall wellness program, Curtin says. [Our program] is intended to help expand career options for chiropractors looking to take their practice to the next level while also helping to transform communities through wellness.

Muth says the benefits of on-site corporate wellness make practicing chiropractic all the more exciting. I really like the idea of helping people in a corporate setting and seeing more and more people accomplish things in their jobs faster and more accurately, he says. You really become a part of the company. Whats more, data has shown a significant decrease in healthcare costs for the corporations who invest in on-site wellness services for their employees, he says.

As far as advice to chiropractors who might be interested in this type of career, Muth says information is power. He recommends going online to learn more about how you can incorporate this specialty into your career. And the best thing is that chiropractors do not have to leave their own practice. They can integrate this specialty into their private practices, and that can help their practices grow in turn.

Anita Shannon, owner and founder of TheraCupping, focuses on bringing the power of high-end massage (particularly vacuum therapy) to chiropractors who are looking to implement natural tissue-generation techniques into their practices.

Since 2002, Shannons company has been training and providing ongoing support to chiropractors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, massage therapists, and other healthcare professionals whose main mission is to improve overall quality of life in their patients.

With regard to vacuum therapy, Treatments can be very short in duration, and the effects are quick and remarkable, she says. If a chiropractor is working with someone who has tight fascia, they can keep adjusting that person, but the fascia or shortened muscle tissue will pull the adjustment back out. Vacuum therapy can help to loosen the fascia and release soft tissue so the chiropractors adjustment can stay in place, she says.

We can achieve a significant increase in range of movement using vacuum therapy, Shannon adds. The techniques soften the tissue and prep it for adjustment techniques in a way that chiropractors have not seen before.

Her company also offers education for chiropractors looking to gain hands-on knowledge of vacuum therapy techniques. The company continually gathers research obtained from various patient case studies.

The machine that Shannon uses for conducting treatments is offered at a fairly low price point for chiropractors seeking to invest in a new service. Our focus is all about the techniques and applications, and the machine makes the work so easy, she says.

According to Shannon, one area in which vacuum therapy has provided significant benefits is a realm that chiropractors might not consider relevant to them. While vacuum therapies are often used for joint issues and replacements, injury recovery, and chronic-pain issues, we have found that mastectomy patients experience major improvements with vacuum therapy treatments, she says.

We have had great results with mastectomy recovery and prepping for reconstruction, Shannon explains. I see this as an excellent adjunct therapy for chiropractors. They work not only with their regular patients, but they add a large number of new patients with a vital need. These women would really benefit from adjustments after what they have been through, and no one is noticing that.

Almost every post-mastectomy patient weve worked with has shoulders and a head that have shifted forward, with adhesions and scar tissue impacting the position of the skeletal structure, Shannon says. Vacuum therapy, combined with traditional chiropractic techniques, can significantly ease these burdens whether a woman moves forward with reconstruction or not.

Vacuum therapy works in reconstruction preparation by loosening the adhesions and scar tissue resulting from the mastectomy, Shannon explains. It aims to prepare and open the area to create space for the implant, and after the surgery it helps to soften the tissue and scars.

We look at vacuum therapy as a missing link in chiropractic, Shannon says. It can be huge addition to a chiropractors menu, generating unlimited new business.

Referral systems for outpatient clinics are really mounting, Shannon adds. This type of therapy could actually bring medical communities closer, as surgeons refer their patients to other healthcare facilities (such as chiropractic offices) that can provide such beneficial adjunct care.

The experts here suggest that by adding a skilled modality to your existing practice such as massage or decompression therapy, you can significantly broaden your patient base and, whats more, add cash-based services. This can be especially attractive as these kinds of additional services wont necessarily complicate your billing and collections picture. A new angle on your practice just might invigorate your enthusiasm, too.

Amy Stankiewicz is a freelance writer based in Cleveland, Ohio. She has written for trade publications for more than 15 years. She can be contacted at amystan611@aol.com.

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Decompression therapy, anti-aging, more giving chiropractors strategic edge - Chiropractic Economics

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The Secrets To Healthy Aging – Anti Aging News

News Health Online Magazine recently interviewed Dr. Joseph Maroon on his tips for healthy aging. In the article entitled, The Secrets to Healthy Aging, Dr. Maroon relates many examples that he has practiced himself over the last 40 years to reduce and counter unhealthy aging. The following is an excerpt of that interview:

Our health system is broken!

That is the opinion of noted neurosurgeon and anti-aging expert Dr. Joseph Maroon, a sports medicine expert who served as the team neurosurgeon for the National Football Leagues Pittsburgh Steelers for over 20 yrs. Dr. Maroon says that Americans spend billions on gastric bypass surgeries each year, but essentially pennies on how to teach people to eat better and have a healthier relationship with food to avoid obesity.

Dr. Maroon is the senior vice president for the American Academy of Anti-Aging and says the key to living a healthier and longer life is to avoid disease before it starts.

Even my closest friends are often surprised when they ask me my age, he says. Despite my youthful appearance, I can tell you that the birth date posted on my drivers license is correct. Although having a youthful appearance is not the only goal of adopting an anti-aging lifestyle, it is a great side benefit. Our skin, without makeup or other cosmetic enhances, provides a fairly accurate window into our overall health.

Dr. Maroon explains that one of the reasons the skin provides so much information is that the skin, like other organs of the body, is affected by inflammation.

Aging and inflammation go hand in hand, says Dr. Maroon.

Here are some ways you can reduce inflammation and promote healthy aging to remain younger on the inside and out:

Eat healthy, Be healthy, Live lively!

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The Secrets To Healthy Aging - Anti Aging News

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New Book Release: The Resolution Zone by Dr. Barry Sears – PRNewswire

Pro-Resolution Nutrition is:

The science behind The Resolution Zone is complex, yet Dr. Sears explains it in simple to understand terms for the layperson as well as provides new insights to medical researchers. Furthermore, he puts forth a comprehensive dietary system that can be followed for a lifetime to optimize the body's natural ability to heal or what he refers to as the Resolution Response. If you want to understand how chronic disease actually develops and what you can do to control it, The Resolution Zone will be your guidebook to a longer and healthier life.

The Resolution Zone is now available for purchase on the Zone Diet website and on Amazon.

Praise for The Resolution Zone

"The Resolution Zone explains how unresolved inflammation is responsible for most of the chronic diseases we currently struggle with as well as aging itself. This book is highly recommended not only for all those seeking optimal health but also for all physicians desirous of learning why and how these dietary measures work." Joseph C. Maroon, MD., Professor and vice chairman, Department of Neurological Surgery, Heindl Scholar in Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, and team neurosurgeon, Pittsburgh Steeler.

"In The Resolution Zone, we see the culmination of decades of his research and experience which begin with Dr. Sears' first book in 1995, The Zone. He convincingly shows us how our diet can be effectively used as our most effective drug." Julian E. Bailes, MD., Bennett Tarkington Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery NorthShore University HealthSystem, Co-Director, NorthShore Neurological Institute, and Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine

About Dr. Barry Sears

Dr. Barry Sears has dedicated the last 35 years of his research career to studying the links between diet, hormones, and health and is dedicated to restoring a state of health that can be controlled by reducing inflammation in your body. In his research, he studies dietary control of hormonal response and develops innovative approaches to help treat and reverse silent inflammation, the leading cause of cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes. His research has led to his best-selling books Enter the Zone, Mastering the Zone, Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes, and had additionally penned The Soy Zone, Anti-Aging Zone, Omega Zone, Toxic Fat, A Week in the Zone, Zone Meals in Seconds, Top 100 Zone Foods, The Mediterranean Zone, and his latest release, The Resolution Zone.

Media Contact: Kristin Sears, 646-715-8622, ksears@zoneliving.com

SOURCE Zone Labs

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New Book Release: The Resolution Zone by Dr. Barry Sears - PRNewswire

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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves heart function in healthy, aging people – The Jerusalem Post

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve heart functionality in healthy aging humans.This, according to a new study by the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center in Beer Yaakov.In this new study, director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at Shamir Medical Center Professor Shai Efrati and Dr. Marina Leitman, head of the Echocardiography Unit and Non-invasive Cardiology Service at Shamir Medical Center turned their attention to HBOTs impact on cardiac function.According to the center, the study of HBOT for cardiac function has been limited, mostly evaluating patients during and after short-term exposures. However, for the first time, the study was conducted in humans and it demonstrated that repetitive HBOT protocols have a sustained effect on heart function.Healthy patients receiving HBOT to improve cognitive function underwent a 60-session treatment course using the Sagol Centers regenerative HBOT protocols. Using a high-resolution echocardiography, patients were evaluated before HBOT was administered and three weeks after treatment concluded, to identify the sustained effect of the treatment. The study was conducted on 31 patients.Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Efrati explained that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) includes the inhalation of 100% oxygen at pressures exceeding one atmosphere absolute (ATA), which is the average atmospheric pressure exerted at sea level, in order to increase the amount of oxygen dissolved in the body tissues.Efrati, who has been pioneering new approaches for the application of HBOT treatments that specifically focus on HBOTs ability to trigger regeneration in the body, said that in the past HBOT has been applied worldwide mostly for chronic non-healing wounds. In recent years, there is growing evidence on the regenerative effects of HBOT, he said. We have now realized that the combined action of both hyperoxia (an excess of oxygen in the body) and hyperbaric pressure, leads to significant improvement in tissue oxygenation while targeting both oxygen and pressure sensitive genes, resulting in improved mitochondrial metabolism with anti-apoptotic (anti-cell death) and anti-inflammatory effects.According to Efrati, the newly developed protocols used in this study, which includes the intermittent increasing and decreasing of oxygen concentration, induces what is known as the Hyperoxic Hypoxic Paradox. This, he said induces stem cells proliferation and mobilization, leading to the generation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and tissue regeneration.Efrati said that during the first studies they conducted at the Sagol Center, they evaluated the beneficial effects of HBOT on brain injuries due to traumatic brain injury and stroke. However, in this study we evaluated for the first time the effect of these new regenerative HBOT protocols on the normal aging heart. For the first time in humans we have demonstrated that HBOT can improve cardiac function.Asked about what inspired the research, Efrati said that for over the last 12 years the team has developed an ongoing research program that investigates the regenerative effects of HBOT on different issues and degrees of damage. At the beginning we were focused on non-healing peripheral wounds, he said. Then, we turned our focus to certain types of brain injuries. However, once the researchers found that HBOT induced many of the essential elements crucial to repairing almost any mechanism, we initiated a complementary research program that targets other organs such as the heart and other elements related to expected age-related functional decline.Addressing the significance of this research, Efrati said that along with normal aging, there is typically a decrease in cardiac function particularly in the mitochondrial cells of the heart. The mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell [and] this is where we create energy, he pointed out. HBOTs ability to improve mitochondrial function may explain the beneficial effects that we saw in the cardiac function of this normal aging population. By exposing the mitochondria to the fluctuations in oxygen by the use of HBOT, the team observed an improvement in contractility function of the heart meaning, the heart muscle contracted more efficiency over the course of the 60-session protocol. Efrati highlighted that the effect was particularly evident in the left ventricle, which is the chamber responsible for pumping oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. This is only the beginning of our understanding of the impact of HBOT on cardiac function in a normally aging population, and a larger and more diverse cohort will be required to further evaluate our initial findings, he said.Asked whether this treatment could also be used on people who are predisposed to heart conditions, Efrati said that the short answer is yes, but stressed that more research is needed.As far as we know, we are the first to identify HBOTs ability to improve cardiac function, he told the Post. Our study was on a group of 31 asymptomatic normal aging heart patients. We believe it is important to expand the scope of this study to a larger group, with both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients to understand the possibilities for HBOT as a treatment for patients with heart-related diseases, he emphasized.The Sagol Center has also been studying the impact of HBOT on a variety of cognitive conditions. We have also conducted studies which showed positive results for the treatment of post-concussion syndrome as a result of traumatic brain injury, post-stroke recovery, fibromyalgia, adding that today, medical professionals understand that fibromyalgia is linked to issues in the brain center responsible for pain interpretation. He made it clear that not every patient will benefit from HBOT, which is why patient selection should be done very carefully based on the damage seen in brain imaging assessments.For example, if someone has a stroke, some of the tissue at the core of the stroke will die we will not be able to recover this tissue, Efrati continued. But, other tissue that is damaged but not fully dead... is where HBOT can help. This damaged tissue, known as the metabolic dysfunction tissue (penumbra), is where we can have an impact and help recover lost function, he added.On the timeline as to when using HBOT protocols may be put into effect on healthy aging patients in Israel, Efrati said that these studies are already ongoing. I cant speak too much about this, as we are in the process of developing the results of the first study for publication, he said. However, we believe HBOT can positively impact both cognitive and physical performance in aging adults based on what we have seen at this point.Efrati said that they will continue pursuing this line of research as it has the ability to transform how we look at aging. Looking at 2020 and beyond, Efrati said that they have a number of research collaborations that are ongoing, including research on cognitive decline, fibromyalgia and PTSD. In addition, we have an ongoing research program on athletic performance both in professional and amateur level athletes, which looks at how HBOT may further improve performance, he said. Finally, we are studying the impact of HBOT on healthy aging adults to understand how HBOT may improve our health and cognitive performance as we age.Concluding, Efrati pointed out that when you look at aging as a disease that can be measured, then it can be treated, and this is a serious area of investigation for us.The study was led by Marina Leitman, MD; Shmuel Fuchs, MD; Amir Hadanny, MD; Zvi Vered, MD; and Efrati. It was published in The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging.

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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy improves heart function in healthy, aging people - The Jerusalem Post

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