One of the best places to look for cutting edge biohacks is the world of pro athletes, where millions of dollars are at stake and every little performance edge counts.
The US Anti-Doping Agency's list of prohibited and allowed treatments to enhance performance is an interesting place to start, since you will find all the treatments and substances that work and are banned or are under consideration to be banned from sport. This is where you will find a treatment know as Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment or HBOT. [1]
LET'S START WITH THE BASICS - THE AIR WE BREATHE
The next time you watch an NFL game, check out the trailers that come onto the field to pick up players after a game. Inside quite a few, you will find one of the more popular hacks: hyperbaric oxygen.
Known for fighting inflammation, promoting wound healing, fighting pain, and hijacking traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which are notoriously high among NFL players, hyperbaric oxygen chambers have been successfully used to speed up the healing process for ligament, tendon, muscle and bone injuries.[2]
You'll probably know from media coverage and the 2015 Will Smith film, Concussion, that high impact sports like football leads to repeatedly suffering traumatic or mildly traumatic brain injuries, which over time can develop into full-blown chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
So avoiding CTE is top of mind for NFL players who go straight into the chamber as soon as they are off the field. Many of them even sleep in them overnight and call them their 'magic sleeping bags.'
MY MOTTO IS 'LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD, PLAY GOOD, PAID GOOD.'
- STEVE WEATHERFORD
Steve Weatherford is also a fan. Known as the fastest punter in the NFL, he is known for his training discipline (feel free to Google him shirtless to see just how seriously he takes this). Weatherford regularly sleeps in his chamber to enhance his performance, something that "has actually become a common practice among many NFL players for a few years now." [3] [4]
This list of American pro athletes and Olympians, joined by European pro footballers, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and tennis player Novak Djokovic, seems to confirm that the chambers are having an impact. [5][6][7]
To see what how 'magic sleeping bags' work, watch the video below of the NBA's Le Bron James using one for recovery after the 2017 playoffs.
POPULAR WITH PATIENTS
But the chambers have also been used for decades to treat patients with diabetic ulcers and radiotherapy burns (in fact, I sat next to a retired British doc in the chamber last week who said it had made all the difference to his radiotherapy burn recovery).
Autoimmune diseases which stem from inflammation within the body also appear to respond to HBOT. In the UK, local Multiple Sclerosis Societies have even run their own chambers for several decades to give treatment access to their members and other patients.
HBOT seems to have an impact even 1-5 years after traumatic brain injuries.[10] Research out of Tel Aviv University in 2013 demonstrated that cognitive function and quality of life improved, while SPECT imaging showed increased brain activity. [11] To learn more about how HBOT can rejuvenate the brain, watch this 2015 Tedx Talk by Dr Shai Erfrati, Director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, who talks about its ability to activate dormant stem cells and heal old wounds, including those of stroke and brain trauma patients several years after the event.
WHY DON'T MORE OF US KNOW ABOUT THIS?
According to Professor Philip James, Emeritus Professor of Hyperbaric Medicine at the University of Dundee, Scotland, hyperbaric oxygen treatment is one of the safest yet most underutilized treatments because hyperbaric medicine is not taught in medical school. [8]
This is not dissimilar to American medical schools offering none to few hours of schooling on nutrition. [9]
WHERE CAN I TRY THIS?
Dedicated HBOT chambers open to the public now exist in major cities around the world. For those looking to reverse illness or injury, there may be local hospitals or charities, such as the MS Society in the UK, that operate their own and are open to non-members using them. A simple Google search will usually bring up results.
I've been experimenting with HBOT for several months now and have noticed a few benefits:
- I can lift 16% more at the gym if I've just had a session
- I have greater stamina and can do more reps if I've been within the last 24 hours
I do HBOT to reduce inflammation, which is important if you have an autoimmune condition, but I won't complain if there are anti-aging benefits;) I have sat next to many patients with everything from burns, diabetes, MS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, broken bones & muscle injuries, and every single person has said what a difference it has made. I even know of an oncologist who has imported a chamber from the US to Europe just so his cancer patients can use it while undergoing chemo.
The oncologist recommends 40 sessions and most say that these should be spaced tightly together.
For other injuries or illnesses, 15 sessions in close succession are recommended.
Weekly or bi-weekly maintenance sessions are recommended thereafter.
WHAT OTHER BIOHACKS ARE THERE?
Over the next few months I'll be revisiting the US Anti-doping Agency's list of prohibited substances and talking more about how some of these therapies are being used to enhance cognitive and physical performance as well as reverse aging and disease. If you don't want to miss any of this coverage, subscribe to our newsletter.
REFERENCES
[1] https://www.usada.org/substances/prohibited-list/athlete-guide-2017-prohibited-list/
[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3382683/
[3] https://www.si.com/edge/2014/04/28/behind-body-giants-steve-weatherford#
[4] http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/12/steve-weatherford-explains-why-nfl-players-often-sleep-in-hyperbaric-chambers
[5] https://www.progressivemedicalcenter.com/nfl-athletes-using-hyperbaric-chamber-to-accelerate-healing/
[6] https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Novak_Djokovic/39709/novak-djokovic-hyperbaric-chamber-is-very-good-/
[7] https://www.newyorker.com/news/sporting-scene/tennis-2-0
[8] http://app.dundee.ac.uk/pressreleases/prnov02/concorde.html
[9] http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0884533610379606
[11] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0079995
Photo credit: Josh Calabrese, Unsplash