Imagine living submerged in water for over three months! That’s exactly what Dr. Joseph Dituri did, enduring a record-breaking 100 days in an underwater habitat to explore the effects on human health. While most of us struggle just to hit the gym a few times a week, in 2023, Dr. Dituri took on the extraordinary challenge of living 30 feet below the surface in a Florida lagoon. This wasn’t just a wild adventure, though; it was a meticulously planned scientific study aimed at understanding how prolonged underwater living affects the human body and to explore treatments that can allow the body to absorb oxygen under high pressure and stimulate blood vessel growth.
The setup for this monumental task involved Dr. Dituri entering a 9m by 9m submerged room, where he was continuously monitored by a team of medical and psychological experts. According to a press release last year, the project also included psychological assessments to understand the impacts of living in a confined and extreme environment similar to what might be experienced during 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,” Dr. Dituri explained in the press release.
Not only did Dr. Dituri spend his days submerged, but he also took the opportunity to educate school children through video calls and even discovered a new species while under the water. You can see more about his journey here:
After resurfacing in June, Dr. Dituri shared some remarkable findings. Blood tests indicated a 50 percent reduction in every inflammatory marker in his body. He reported improved health metrics, including increased length of telomeres, which are the protective caps on chromosomes linked to aging.
“I’m 56 now. My extrinsic [biological] age was 44. When I got out of the water, my extrinsic age was 34,” Dr. Dituri told WKMG News in Orlando. “So, my telomeres lengthened. I actually got younger when I was under the water.” Check out more about Dr. Dituri’s fascinating insights here:
While the telomere lengthening has slightly reduced since his initial return, they remain longer than before the experiment started. Dr. Dituri attributes this ‘age reversal’ effect to the high-pressure, or ‘hyperbaric’, environment of his underwater habitat.
Dr. Dituri’s underwater endeavor not only pushes the boundaries of human endurance and scientific research but also opens up potential pathways for long-term human habitation in extreme environments, both underwater and beyond in space.