Bryan Johnson's HBOT Protocol: What He Did, What He Reported, and What a Supervised Version Looks Like in Miami

Medically reviewed by Shane D. Naidoo, MD
Medical Director, TrufaMED Urgent Care & Concierge Medicine
Board-Certified, Emergency Medicine
Last reviewed: May 2026

Bryan Johnson ran 60 hyperbaric oxygen sessions on himself, published the protocol on the Don't Die / Blueprint pages, posted the biomarker results on X, and spent roughly $100,000 in equipment to do it at home. The protocol is replicable. The biomarker improvements he reported are real claims with peer-reviewed parallels. And almost no one outside the longevity world has explained what the protocol actually involves, what the n=1 caveats are, what the published parallels show, and what a supervised version looks like in a clinic.

This is that explanation. From a physician-led HBOT clinic in Miami, with the same protocol parameters available in a hard-sided clinical chamber for a fraction of his equipment cost.

What Bryan Johnson actually did

The protocol, as published on his pages and corroborated in his own posts:

• 60 sessions total, run over approximately 12 weeks
• 5 sessions per week
• 90 minutes per session, delivered as 20 minutes of pure oxygen followed by 5 minutes of breathing chamber air, repeated. The air break is a standard pattern used to reduce oxygen toxicity risk during long sessions.
• 2.0 ATA (atmospheres absolute), which is the equivalent pressure of being roughly 33 feet underwater
• 100 percent oxygen
• Conducted as an n=1 experiment in a hard-shell chamber installed at his home

The structure is recognizable to anyone working in clinical hyperbaric medicine. It is not exotic. The novel parts of his approach are the biomarker breadth he tracked and the public publication of the data, not the protocol itself.

What he reported as results

From his own published summary on Don't Die / Blueprint and his X posts, after the 60-session block:

• hsCRP and other inflammation markers below detectable. Specifically TNF-a, IL-6, IL-10, hsCRP, myeloperoxidase, LpPLA2, and OxLDL.
• VEGF up roughly 300 percent. VEGF is a signaling protein for new blood vessel formation; rises are a plausible mechanism for several of HBOT's reported benefits.
• Telomere length up roughly 2.6 percent (10.3 kb to 11.4 kb).
• Telomerase activity comparable to a 12-year-old, in his framing. This is one of the more attention-grabbing claims and worth being specific about: telomerase is the enzyme that maintains telomere caps. Higher activity is associated with younger biological age in cell-line studies.
• Short-chain fatty acids up roughly 250 percent; n-Butyrate up roughly 290 percent. These are gut-derived metabolites with broad metabolic relevance.
• A dementia-risk marker reduced approximately 28 percent. The specific marker referenced is consistent with pTAU127, a tau phosphorylation marker tracked in neurodegeneration research.
• UV damage improved by more than 10 percent on multi-spectral skin imaging.

These are self-reported, single-subject results. They are not peer-reviewed and they have not been replicated in his own data set with controls. As an n=1, the framework he used is more rigorous than most influencer self-reporting (he tracked battery panels of biomarkers and used commercial epigenetic tests rather than vibe-based assessments). The data is still a single individual.

The peer-reviewed parallel: Hachmo et al., Aging, 2020

The peer-reviewed work that supports the underlying mechanism is Hachmo et al., published in Aging (Albany NY) in November 2020, led by Shai Efrati and Amir Hadanny at Shamir Medical Center in Israel.

The study enrolled 35 healthy independently living adults age 64 and older and ran 60 daily HBOT sessions on each. The findings:

• Telomere length increased by more than 20 percent in T-helper, T-cytotoxic, natural killer, and B cells, with some subsets showing up to 38 percent lengthening.
• Senescent T-helper cells decreased by approximately 37 percent.
• T-cytotoxic senescent cell percentages decreased by approximately 11 percent.

This is a separate study from Bryan Johnson's experiment, with a different sample and different endpoints, but it is mechanistically aligned. The combination of the published Hachmo data with Bryan Johnson's self-reported numbers is what gives the longevity-HBOT thesis its current credibility, and it is also why the topic is getting renewed attention in clinical settings.

Why supervision matters at 2.0 ATA

HBOT at 2.0 to 2.5 ATA carries small but real risks. The list of things a UHMS-licensed physician is screening for during a session:

• Ear barotrauma. The most common HBOT side effect. Patients clear their ears on descent; failure to clear can cause pain, fluid behind the eardrum, or rupture in rare cases.
• Sinus barotrauma. Same mechanism, sinuses instead of ears.
• Oxygen toxicity. Rare at standard protocol pressures and durations. The 20-minute oxygen / 5-minute air break pattern Bryan Johnson uses is specifically designed to reduce this risk.
• Claustrophobia. Common at first. Manageable in a clinical setting with a clinician walking the patient through it. Less manageable alone in a home chamber.
• Contraindications. Untreated pneumothorax. Certain medications including bleomycin and disulfiram. Recent ear or sinus surgery. Certain types of cardiac and pulmonary disease. The screening is what makes the encounter clinical rather than recreational.

Bryan Johnson runs his protocol with a team of medical staff on his payroll. That is appropriate for him. Most patients running an HBOT longevity program are not in that position, and the right alternative is a clinic with a UHMS-trained physician physically present during every session, which is how TrufaMED runs its program.

What a supervised version looks like at TrufaMED

The protocol is replicable in a clinical setting. The TrufaMED HBOT program:

• Hard-sided clinical chamber, 1.5 to 2.5 ATA, 100 percent oxygen
• Session length: 60 to 90 minutes, with the 20 minutes oxygen / 5 minutes air break pattern available where indicated
• UHMS-licensed physician physically present during every session
• Initial visit: $300, includes physical exam, chest X-ray, and first session
• Continuing sessions: $150 per session
• Wellness package: $1,000 for an initial evaluation plus 10 sessions
• Recommended counts by goal: 10 to 20 sessions for general wellness or performance, 20 to 40 for chronic conditions, 5 to 10 for athletic recovery, 40 to 80 for TBI or concussion. A 60-session program is well within the parameters we run regularly.

Run the math on a 60-session program at TrufaMED: $300 initial plus $150 times 59 continuing sessions equals approximately $9,150, plus any additional baseline or follow-up labs you elect. By comparison, public reporting on Bryan Johnson's at-home setup put his hyperbaric chamber equipment cost at approximately $100,000.

Who this is appropriate for

HBOT longevity programs make the most clinical sense for patients who:

• Have specific markers of inflammation or vascular dysfunction they want to move (hsCRP, ApoB, others) and are willing to track them serially
• Are post-traumatic-brain-injury, post-concussion, or post-COVID and have residual cognitive or fatigue symptoms
• Are recovering from a significant surgery and want to accelerate tissue repair
• Are training at high volume in athletics or performance contexts
• Want to layer HBOT into a structured longevity framework alongside labs and ongoing physician interpretation

HBOT is less useful for patients with no specific goal, no baseline biomarker tracking, and no plan for what to do with the data. The protocol is not low-cost or low-effort. The honest version of recommending it includes saying that out loud.

What we will not do

We will not promise outcomes. We will not run protocols outside indications we are clinically comfortable with. We will not market HBOT as a general anti-aging treatment or as a substitute for the boring fundamentals of long-term health (sleep, exercise, lipids, glucose, social connection, sun, food). We will not push the program on patients for whom the math does not make sense.

Frequently asked questions

What was Bryan Johnson's HBOT protocol?

60 sessions over approximately 12 weeks, 5 sessions per week, 90 minutes each, run as 20-minute oxygen intervals with 5-minute air breaks. Pressure was 2.0 ATA at 100 percent oxygen. The protocol was an n=1 experiment using a hard-shell chamber installed at his home.

What did Bryan Johnson report after 60 sessions?

Self-reported on Don't Die / Blueprint and his X posts: hsCRP and other inflammatory markers below detectable, VEGF up about 300 percent, telomere length up about 2.6 percent, telomerase activity he described as comparable to a 12-year-old, short-chain fatty acids up about 250 percent, n-Butyrate up about 290 percent, a dementia-risk marker reduced about 28 percent, and improved UV damage on multi-spectral imaging. These are self-reported single-subject results, not peer-reviewed.

Is there peer-reviewed research that supports HBOT for these effects?

Yes, partial. Hachmo et al., published in Aging in November 2020, ran 60 HBOT sessions in 35 healthy adults age 64 and older. They found telomere lengthening of more than 20 percent in immune cells (with some subsets up to 38 percent) and senescent cell reduction up to about 37 percent. The Hachmo data is mechanistically consistent with what Bryan Johnson reports.

Is HBOT FDA-approved for longevity?

No. The FDA approves HBOT for a defined list of conditions. Longevity and anti-aging are off-label uses.

What pressure does TrufaMED's HBOT chamber operate at?

1.5 to 2.5 ATA, 100 percent oxygen, 60 to 90 minute session lengths.

Why does supervision matter for HBOT?

Hyperbaric oxygen at 2.0 ATA carries small but real risks: ear and sinus barotrauma, oxygen toxicity (rare at protocol pressures), claustrophobia, and contraindications. A UHMS-licensed physician physically present during the session can recognize and manage these.

Could I run a 60-session protocol like his at TrufaMED?

Yes. $300 initial visit plus $150 per continuing session. A 60-session program is approximately $9,150 plus any baseline or follow-up labs you elect, with a UHMS-licensed physician on every session.

Are the biomarker effects he reports likely to occur in another individual?

Some of them, partially, in some patients. Effect magnitude is highly individual and depends on baseline biology, comorbidities, and adherence. We do not promise outcomes.

What labs would TrufaMED track on a longevity HBOT program?

Baseline and serial: hsCRP, complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, ferritin, vitamin D, B12, homocysteine, fasting glucose and insulin, an inflammation panel where indicated, and an epigenetic age marker if elected.

How does this fit with concierge medicine?

An HBOT longevity program is most useful when it is tracked over time alongside lab work and clinical interpretation. The TrufaMED concierge tiers (VIP, Family Plus, Signature) include scheduled baseline and follow-up panels, dedicated physician interpretation, and direct access between visits.

Is HBOT covered by insurance for longevity?

No. Insurance covers HBOT for FDA-approved indications when medical necessity is documented. Longevity programs are off-label and self-pay.

Where can I learn more or schedule a consultation?

The hyperbaric oxygen therapy page on trufamed.com has details on the chamber, pressure, session protocols, and pricing. To talk with a physician, call (305) 537-6396 or schedule through TrufaMED Urgent Care or Concierge Services.

Schedule a supervised HBOT consult

If a 60-session block, a 20-session block, or any structured supervised HBOT program is on your radar, the next step is an initial visit. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy at TrufaMED is run by UHMS-licensed physicians in a hard-sided clinical chamber, with full physician oversight on every session. To talk through whether a longevity HBOT program fits your goals, see our concierge medicine page or call (305) 537-6396.