If it wasn't accomplishment enough that a man spent 100 days underwater, he's now claiming that the experience de-aged him. Could the fountain of youth be found under the sea?
In 2023, Dr. Joseph Dituri set himself up for a unique challenge. He decided to lock himself 30 feet below a Florida lagoon. Just the thought of that is already making my claustrophobia rear its head. I couldn't imagine spending 1 day down there, much less 100. But that's exactly what Dituri did. He spent 100 days underwater.
Far than just doing it for the thrill, Dituri wanted to see how the experience changed his body. He also wanted to test a new type of medicine that could deliver oxygen to people living in high-pressure conditions. The medicine supposedly helps new blood vessels form. The man dove to a 9-meter by 9-meter room. He closely monitored his condition over 100 days.
Man De-Aged Underwater
He said, "Part of the work will see a psychologist and a psychiatrist monitor the effects he experiences while in an environment similar to extended space travel. It's an isolating confined extreme environment. And as humans, we really need to figure out how we're going to be living in that (environment) if we're going to expand our planet, if we're going to go interplanetary, if we're going to find all the cures that we need to find."
How did he pass the time underwater? He taught kids via video chat. However, the doctor's biggest claim is that spending all that time underwater de-aged him. He claimed that blood tests showed a 50 percent reduction in every inflammatory marker. He also said that he had longer telomeres, which are chromosomal structures linked to extending life.
Dituri said: "I'm 56 now. My extrinsic [biological] 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." According to the doctor, he said that it wasn't underwater that caused the changes. Instead, he believes that it was living under a high-pressure situation. Of course, more experimentation will need to be done to verify his claims.
