#208

So, are you saying the results disappear on a month or less?

#209

Yes that’s a good observation. Certainly the new blood vessels that were formed due to increased VEGF does not disappear, but I don’t think you would expect enhanced formation once discontinuing treatment. Bryan posted that he is considering a maintenance protocol of 20 sessions every 90 days. This could work out to roughly 2/week which may be enough at 2.0 ATA to maintain VEGF levels.

#210

With that said, it’s unclear if year-round elevated VEGF is desirable, even in the context of a cancer-free patient. Perhaps it’s something one would want to only intermittently stimulate. Here’s what ChatGPT 4.5 had to say given the query

Is there a downside to elevated (high-normal to borderline high) VEGF at all times assuming no cancer is present? Eg year-round stimulation via HBOT

Elevated VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) levels, even within a high-normal to borderline-high range, can lead to physiological changes that may have potential downsides if sustained chronically. Assuming no cancer is present, continuously elevated VEGF—such as that induced by frequent hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)—can lead to:

  1. Abnormal Angiogenesis and Capillary Leakage:

Chronic elevation of VEGF could cause excessive formation of fragile new blood vessels, potentially resulting in abnormal vascular networks. This may increase the risk of capillary permeability, tissue edema, and localized inflammation. Examples include retinal neovascularization, which can compromise visual acuity, and peripheral edema.

  1. Chronic Inflammation and Fibrosis:

Persistently elevated VEGF levels can promote chronic inflammatory responses, increasing the deposition of extracellular matrix components and collagen. This may result in fibrosis, altering tissue elasticity and potentially impairing normal organ function. For example, in pulmonary tissue, elevated VEGF levels over time might contribute to interstitial fibrosis or thickening.

  1. Increased Vascular Permeability and Edema:

Elevated VEGF enhances vascular permeability, which, if maintained chronically, can lead to persistent fluid leakage into surrounding tissues, causing edema. Such edema could potentially exacerbate chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, kidney dysfunction, or cerebral edema.

  1. Potential Acceleration of Non-cancerous Pathologies:

Elevated VEGF has been associated with conditions other than cancer, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis, suggesting chronic elevations could exacerbate or predispose an individual to these conditions over the long term.

  1. Cardiovascular Implications:

Sustained angiogenesis and elevated VEGF could theoretically influence cardiovascular health negatively through dysfunctional vessel growth or abnormal vascular remodeling. While controlled angiogenesis is beneficial in healing ischemic tissues, uncontrolled or chronic angiogenesis can sometimes result in unstable or fragile vessels.

Contextual Consideration:

HBOT-induced VEGF elevation is typically intermittent and controlled. However, continuous or excessively frequent exposure could theoretically magnify the physiological consequences outlined above, especially over extended periods.

If considering ongoing HBOT or another VEGF-stimulating intervention, monitoring markers of inflammation, endothelial function, and tissue health periodically may help detect adverse physiological responses early.

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#211

Remember, HBOT also looked quite favorable here for epigenetic age reduction:

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#212

Which labs did you use?

Where do you do the VegF test?

#213

Based on my knowledge, this is not true. Vessels formed by VEGF are generally unstable, immature and don’t contribute to improved circulation. It’s why clinical trials of VEGF as therapies for ischemic diseases have failed (like the VIVA trial for cardiac perfusion).

As pointed out by others, VEGF also increases vascular permeability and leakage. In fact, its original name when discovered in the 1980’s was hVPF - human vascular permeability factor.

So really, I don’t think the circulating VEGF concentration has much value at all, to be honest. Especially not as a single measurement. What is presumably important is the tissue concentration.

I’m also not entirely sure why that logic even makes sense. The primary driver of VEGF secretion is hypoxia, which is the opposite of what HBOT is trying to achieve.

Even then, I am very sceptical of this whole HBOT thing that BJ is reporting. I’m also wondering what sort of negatives he might not be reporting.

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#214

Vibrant Wellness and Doctor’s Data. I’ve also used Genova Diagnostics.

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#215

As I understand it, this is accurate when VEGF is increased alone, and is why clinical trials of VEGF administration have failed. However, HBOT also stimulates other angiogenic pathways which could stabilize VEGF induced blood vessel growth. Assuming VEGF is actually stimulated via the hyperoxia-hypoxia paradox in HBOT usage.

Related, intermittent hypoxia protocols reliably stimulate VEGF, and they do improve vascularization, again, due to stabilization by other HIF-dependent angiogenic factors.

Agreed that VEGF is probably not that useful as an isolated factor. Unfortunately measurement of HIF expression or other downstream pathways of either HBOT or hypoxia induced angiogenesis are not readily available AFAIK. (VEGF is available at labcorp)

@adssx has looked into HIF a lot elsewhere on the forum and might have more to add here about VEGF.

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#216

Yes - thats a common statement I hear about HBOT for longevity. One group in Israel seems to have done almost all the “longevity” oriented research, so I don’t view it as duplicated yet and telomeres are not very important for aging for most of us. Here is Attia / Kaeberlein on HBOT:

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#217

I think the point about telomeres is that telomerase that increases the length of telomeres does good things to the mitochondria. Hence if you have long telomeres you are also likely to have telomerase working to the benefit of the mitochondria.

#218

Nothing to add but I wonder if most of the benefits of HBOT come from the HIF pathway and in that case intermittent hypoxia might be better: Oxygen, hypoxia and hyperoxia

Intermittent hypoxia also seems safer, more affordable and easier to do than HBOT. But there’s not much data for the moment tbh.

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#219

I have been doing normobaric hyperoxia followed by normoxia for a few years. I use an oxygen concentrator and do 8 mins at probably 60% ish oxygen (the oxygen concentrator claims to produce more, but once everything is taken into account it is probably 60%). That is pretty well every morning.

#220

How Bryan Johnson, Who Wants to Live Forever, Sought Control via Confidentiality Agreements

That control is starting to fray as Mr. Johnson, a longevity guru known for performing experiments on his body, faces a backlash over the agreements.

His fame has also appeared to catapult Blueprint to success. In January, Mr. Johnson hailed his start-up as “one of the fastest-growing companies in the world, fueled by word of mouth.”

But away from the cameras, his carefully curated profile and Blueprint’s business are starting to show cracks — especially with a brewing fight over Mr. Johnson’s use of a legal document: confidentiality agreements.

For nearly a decade, Mr. Johnson has wielded confidentiality agreements to control his image and the companies he built atop that image. His employees, sexual partners, vendors and contract workers have all had to sign the documents, sometimes in exchange for settlements, severance or continued employment at his firms, according to people close to him and his start-ups, internal documents and court records.

Now those agreements, which were supposed to keep people silent on Mr. Johnson’s personal life and businesses, are backfiring as some of his workers band together to challenge them.

At least three of Mr. Johnson’s former employees — including a former fiancée who worked for him — have recently filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, a federal watchdog agency, about his confidentiality agreements. They said the terms they signed were “overbroad” and accused Mr. Johnson of violating federal laws that protect workers who want to speak about their workplace conditions, according to copies of two of the complaints and six people with knowledge of them.

People close to Mr. Johnson and Blueprint have increasingly chafed at the agreements as the start-up has faced mounting financial and product-quality questions that some thought should be made public, former employees and others with knowledge of the company said.

Oliver Zolman, Mr. Johnson’s longtime longevity doctor, who was featured in the Netflix documentary, quietly left Blueprint last year after having concerns about some of its health supplements, the people said. Last fall, Mr. Johnson also told Blueprint executives that the company was running out of money.

História completa: How Bryan Johnson, Who Wants to Live Forever, Sought Control via Confidentiality Agreements (NY Times)

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Bryan Johnson NYT Takedown article 3/21/25
#221

Access to the above article through the NyTimes website … below:

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#222

This seems to confirm what most people here know, that the biological age measures are really just marketing tools:

In the Netflix documentary, which was largely filmed in 2023, Mr. Johnson said his biological age had reversed 5.1 years. But the results of a range of internal studies of his health between January 2022 and February 2024 showed it had increased by as much as 10 years, according to charts of the blood test results. It’s unclear what his current tests show.

In an email, Mr. Johnson said that the “decision to highlight the 5.1 year reduction was made entirely by the documentary’s production team” and that the statistic came from an experiment conducted in early 2023. He said “biological age measurements fluctuate” depending on the test and other factors.

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#223

Given that individual measurements on the same individual can vary quite a bit you can get a reduction by doing more tests and picking the lowest. How much any particular test varies I don’t know.

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#224

What the heck is “biological age” anyway as a single number? Calendar age, yes, one number that is well understood. Let’s say that biological age is the number that would be equivalent to the calendar age at different stages - so it’s in a state that would correspond to the calendar age of the average human, your body is the average body of a 50 year old even though you are 70 by calendar age. We can clearly see that this is nonsense. There is no such single number for the whole body, the way there is a single number for calendar age. Different organs are of different age characteristics in the same body, liver 65, lungs 55 etc., and this is true regardless of your calendar age. There is no “average” body - everyone will have a different combination of ages of their various tissues. Furthermore, in reality it is much more granular than a whole organ - some aspects of a lung might be the same as in an average 20 year old while other aspects 60 year old. Even individual cells can have different age aspects. So how are you assigning a single number to “biological” age of the whole body? Based on which organ, which tissue, which cell, which cell component (f.ex. mitochondria), as all can be wildly different? It’s nonsensical and completely arbitrary.

It sounds good, until you think about it for one minute. All those companies are marketing their products based on hoping people don’t spend that minute thinking, because if people did, they wouldn’t fall for it.

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#225

In my very first post I predicted that Bryan would flame out, as it’s all too early, which is proven as in the HBOT test he said his team were struggling to find the next therapy. There’s simply nothing out there yet we can validate to make a dent in the aging process. We can’t even measure aging probably. That said, I believe we’re close, but not close enough for Blueprint to intersect with them. So all he has left is selling supplements, testing and devices, which is a net positive for the space, but in the long term people are going to lose patience because eating broccoli isn’t getting anyone to a hundred. On top of that he recently declared Blueprint as a religion so there’s that. Not a good look in my opinion. Despite all of this nonsense, I think Bryan has raised awareness for a lot of people about what might be coming soon and I think there’s a net benefit to that.

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#226

Looks like Musely is copying Brian Johnsons formula…Prescription Skincare That Works | Musely FaceRx

Full

Active Ingredients:

  • Latanoprost 0.004%
  • Caffeine 0.5%
  • Cetirizine 1%
  • Melatonin 0.1%

Inactive Ingredients:

  • 250 million exosomes
  • Vitamin D3 (1,000 IU/mL)
  • Vitamin E (10 IU/mL)
  • Biotin (0.2%)
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#227

To me the science is the top priority. I want to be certain as to what the truth is.

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