More than 400 years ago, people were already certain that oxygen had particularly healing properties—and was more than just the air we breathe. But it took several centuries and a great deal of research to understand the oxygen molecule. Even today, we still don't know everything about it, although oxygen is now classified as a prescription drug.

The goal has always been to supply the body with more oxygen. Initial attempts to increase the pressure using a steam engine failed. With the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge from 1869 to 1880 in New York, oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber made its breakthrough. During the construction of the foundations, divers were already being used for long periods of time. Known today as decompression sickness or diver's disease, the divers were soon unable to continue working and suffered from pain and dizziness. It was during this period that the hyperbaric chamber was first used for a practical purpose.

Numerous procedures and methods of oxygen enrichment for the body followed. For over 60 years, however, hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used for around a dozen diseases in addition to decompression sickness and is even covered by health insurance. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is considered evidence-based for these diseases. To date, HBOT is the only procedure for treating diabetic foot or open leg, for example, and preventing amputation.

With Prof. Elizabeth Blackburne's 2009 Nobel Prize in aging research, oxygen molecules have taken on special significance, and the topic has gained new importance after so many decades. One of the findings was that with increasing age, the oxygen chains before and after the genes shorten—the so-called telomerase process. Initial studies showed that with around 40 applications of HBO therapy, this telomerase could be reversed—in other words, biological age could be turned back.