A man who spent a record 100 days underwater claims the experience de-aged him and even share some proof.
In 2023, Dr Joseph Dituri challenged himself to spend 100 days in a habitat located 30 feet under a Florida lagoon.
It wasn't just a bit of fun for Dr Dituri though, as he monitored how his body would react to long-term extreme pressure and even discovered a 'brand news species' while doing so.
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During this time, the scientist and former naval officer stayed in a small 9m by 9m room that he had to scuba dive to get to.
Dr Dituri's goal was to research a type of medicine that can help deliver oxygen to the human body under high pressures by helping it to grow new blood vessels.
When the scientist was not recording his body's reaction to the extreme pressure of living underwater, he was teaching school kids through video link on his laptop.
Dr Dituri was also closely monitored by medical, psychological, and psychosocial experts.
A press release from last year added: "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.
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"It's an isolating confined extreme environment. And 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."
When he emerged from his underwater mission last June, Dr Dituri claimed that blood tests showed a 50-percent reduction in every inflammatory marker in his body.
He claimed a lot of areas of his health improved following the 100-day mission, including longer telomeres - structures on chromosomes that are often linked to extending life.
Speaking to reporters at WKMG News in Orlando recently, Dr Dituri said: "I'm 56 now. My extrinsic [biological] age was 44. When I got out of the water, my extrinsic age was 34.
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"So, my telomeres lengthened. I actually got younger when I was under the water."
Dr Dituri claims that his telomeres are not as long as they were when he first came out in June, but they are longer than they were before he embarked on his research.
He also believes his phenomenal 'age reversal' was caused by living in a high-pressure or 'hyperbaric' environment.
Topics: Health, Science, US News