Joseph Dituri, 55, spent three months at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in a 9sq m capsule. The researcher’s experiment aims to study how the pressurised environment affects the human body.
Dituri told DailyMail that doctors conducted tests on his body to see how it changed from March to June, including tests that measure telomeres, compounds at the end of chromosomes that shorten with age.
He claims they are now 20 percent longer, and he has up to 10 times more stem cells than when he first moved into the underwater pod in March.
Also, inflammatory markers and cholesterol were halved, and the duration of deep sleep increased significantly.
The changes in health are due to pressure, which is similar to the process in hyperbaric chambers, which have been found to improve cerebral blood flow, brain metabolism and brain microstructure, leading to improved cognitive function, physical function, sleep and gait.
Dituri uses the pressurised environment to study how the human body responds to prolonged exposure to extreme pressure in a small space for 100 days – a similar environment to be experienced by spaceflight heroes on a trip to the Red Planet.
“You need one of these places, cut off from outside activity,” Dituri told DailyMail.com, referring to the tiny capsule.
Send people here for a two-week holiday where they can wash their feet, relax and experience the benefits of hyperbaric medicine.”
Dituri embarked on this epic mission on 1 March not only to break the record for longest life underwater – previously held at 73 days – but also to discover how pressure can benefit the human body.
Photo: AP
Photo: AP
When DailyMail.com first spoke to Dituri, he was only 24 days into his mission and said he suspected his telomeres would get much longer – and he was right.
Previous research has shown that telomeres, which protect chromosomes from abrasion, lengthen when the body is under intense pressure.
We suspect, or we know in hyperbaric medicine, that after about 60 treatments of an hour a day at a higher pressure than the one I am under now, an hour a day you will increase them by 25 to 33 per cent, the jury is still out on this,” said Dituri in March. And in a recent conversation with the scientist, he said the compounds had increased by 20 per cent.
