Hyperbaric medicine is a medical therapy in which an ambient pressure higher than sea level atmospheric pressure is required. This includes hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the medicinal use of oxygen at greater than atmospheric pressure.
Breathing 95% oxygen under higher atmospheric pressure is known as hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT). HBOT is an ancient therapy that dates back to the 1600s. A British priest called Henshaw established and ran the first well-known chamber. He constructed a chamber called the domicilium, which was used to cure various ailments. The chamber may be inflated with air or left empty by utilizing bellows. The French surgeon Fontaine, who constructed a pressurized, transportable operating theatre in 1879, carried on the notion of treating patients under higher pressure.
How it Works
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) works on the principle that involves exposing users to pure oxygen (O2) concentrations under increased atmospheric pressure. This pressure may equal or surpass 1.4 atmospheres (atm), according to the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). All current UHMS-approved indications, however, demand that users breathe near 95% oxygen purity while contained in a chamber pressured to at least 2 ATA.
The best oxygen chambers are pressurized with air, not oxygen, because oxygen in high purity increases the possibility of explosion. You can breathe pure oxygen only through the mask that provides oxygen up to 95% purity using the oxygen concentrators that are connected to the chamber.
What to Expect
HBOT is often performed as an outpatient treatment, and a doctor will suggest several sessions based on the user's health.
One session may be sufficient for some people suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Participants in several soft tissue necrosis trials got an average of eight sessions.
A typical HBOT session includes:
sitting or sleeping in a pressurized chamber, either alone or with others, the chamber being room-sized
receiving compressed oxygen, which may be delivered through a mask or hood
If requested, communicate with a therapist or technician throughout the session.
To promote relaxation, you might listen to music or watch TV.
In a monoplace chamber, the individual normally lays on a table that slides inside a transparent plastic tube.
The cause for the therapy will determine the duration of the session. A session might take anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Types of hyperbaric oxygen chambers
There are two types of chambers used in hyperbaric oxygen therapy:
Monoplace chamber: This is a single-person chamber. It's a long, aluminum tube like an MRI scanner. The user enters the chamber and lays down as in a bed. Inside the chamber, they can breathe up to 95% pure oxygen.
Multiplace chamber: This chamber may accommodate two or more individuals simultaneously. The session is much the same. The distinction is that each individual uses an oxygen mask or hoods for breathing oxygen in high purity. A technician may also be in the chamber while you get the therapy done.
Hard-shell and Soft-shell Chambers
Based on the consistency of the material used to make the chamber, HBOT can be divided into the following types.
Hard-Shell Hyperbaric Chambers: You normally breathe 21% oxygen at sea level. Medical Grade Hard-Shell Hyperbaric Chambers such as Oxyhelp Hyperbaric Chambers use high pressure to assist the body bypasses the typical method of oxygen distribution to your body, boosting the supply of oxygen to cells by 10, 15, or even 20 times the normal quantity. This is essential to reap the advantages of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Soft-Shell Chambers: These chambers, on the other hand, only boost oxygen intake by 26%, or 5% more than usual, since they cannot achieve sufficient pressure to deliver significant advantages. Inflatable bag chambers are not considered Hyperbaric Medicine since they cannot produce the essential pressures for healing (1.5ATA+).
Currently, most practitioners and businesses who utilize, sell, or lease Soft Shell Chambers promote research and scientific findings based on TRUE clinical hyperbaric studies performed in 'Hard,' FDA-approved chambers. The FDA has even sanctioned several inflatable bag chamber firms for making "fraudulent medical claims."
Our Choice
As this article is being written, there are a number of makers of HBOT available on the market, each of which claims to offer the best product. However, the following oxygen chamber manufacturer emerges as the obvious victor after considering all of the required criteria.
Oxyhelp Hyperbaric Chambers
OXYHELP INDUSTRY is a European hyperbaric device manufacturer and international distributor with a mission to spread awareness about the method and benefits of moderate hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) by using their expertise in the design and construction of hard chambers.
OXYHELP INDUSTRY has developed into one of the most well-known European companies. It is now active worldwide, supplying and installing digitally controlled pressurized hard chambers.
Why OXYHELP?
OXYHELP spent time researching existing technologies to upgrade their technical standards—making it easy and safe for both professional workers and self-treating patients. They have found the finest material and auxiliary technology suppliers to become one of the top designers and producers of this incredible range of medical equipment—the monoplace and multi-place HBOT low-pressure chambers.
The firm expanded on its OxyHelp objective by doing considerable study and documentation on the theoretical elements of HBOT to bring innovation in the sector, such as digitally controlled operating systems or highly efficient ventilation for safety and comfort.
Benefits of OXYHELP
You will be able to improve your overall body performance by taking advantage of the hyperbaric therapy session that is designed specifically for athletic use. This session will reduce the amount of lactic acid that builds up in the muscles. HBOT naturally speeds up healing periods for sports injuries, allowing wounded athletes to recover quicker and lower the chance of re-injury.
It's possible that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help you improve your mental acuity, focus, and attention span.
The use of hyperbaric therapy on a regular basis may assist in healthy aging, giving the appearance of being younger than one's real age.
Hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency at the cellular level, is the root cause of all degenerative diseases. All you have to do during a hyperbaric oxygen treatment session is breathe pure oxygen within a chamber with enhanced atmospheric pressure, which improves oxygen distribution via blood capillaries, tissues, organs, and the brain. The procedure is non-invasive and suitable for almost everyone, with a few exceptions.
Take Home Message
If you are considering using an HBOT device for yourself or a loved one, keep in mind that some of the claims about what it can accomplish are unverified. HBOT devices, for example, have not been demonstrated to treat cancer, Lyme disease, autism, or Alzheimer's.
Before using an HBOT device, consult your health care provider to ensure you receive the most appropriate care.
Finding romance today feels like trying to align stars in a night sky that refuses to stay still
When was the last time you stumbled into a conversation that made your heart skip? Or exchanged a sweet beginning to a love story - organically, without the buffer of screens, swipes, or curated profiles? In 2025, those moments feel rarer, swallowed up by the quickening pace of life.
We are living faster than ever before. Cities hum with noise and neon, people race between commitments, and ambition seems to be the rhythm we all march to. In the process, the simple art of connection - eye contact, lingering conversations, the gentle patience of getting to know someone - feels like it is slipping through our fingers.
Whether you’re single, searching, or settled, the landscape is shifting. Some turn to apps for convenience; others look for love in cafés, gyms, workplaces or community spaces. But the challenge remains the same: how do we connect deeply in a world designed to move at lightning speed?
We’ve become fluent in productivity, in chasing careers, in cultivating polished identities. Yet are we forgetting how to be fluent in intimacy? When was the last time you sat across from someone and truly listened - without checking your phone, without planning the next step, without treating time like a currency to be spent?
It’s a strange paradox: we have more access to people than ever before, yet many feel more isolated. Fun is always available - dinners, drinks, nights out, fleeting encounters - but fulfilment is harder to grasp. Are we mistaking access for intimacy? Are we human, or are we slowly adapting into versions of ourselves stripped of those raw, humanistic qualities - vulnerability, patience, tenderness - that once defined love?
Perhaps we’ve grown comfortable with the fast exit. It’s easier to ghost than to explain. Easier to keep moving than to pause. But what does that cost us? What do we lose when romance becomes a checkbox on an already overstuffed to-do list?
The truth is - the heart doesn’t move at the pace of technology or ambition. It moves slowly, awkwardly, with a rhythm that resists acceleration. Maybe that’s the point. Love has always lived in the messy spaces - hesitant pauses, nervous laughter, words spoken without rehearsal.
So the real question for 2025 is not “Have we gone too far?” but “Can we afford to slow down?” Can we still allow ourselves the sweetness of beginnings - the chance encounters, the unplanned moments, the quiet courage to be open?
Because in the end, connection is not about speed or access—it’s about presence. In a world that won’t stop moving, choosing to be present might be the bravest act of love we have left.
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Researchers from the UK and US analysed data from American households between 2004 and 2019
Hotter days linked to greater intake of sugary drinks and frozen desserts
Lower-income households most affected, research finds
Climate change could worsen health risks linked to sugar consumption
Study based on 15 years of US household food purchasing data
Sugary consumption rising with heat
People are more likely to consume sugary drinks and ice cream on warmer days, particularly in lower-income households, according to new research. The study warns that climate change could intensify this trend, adding to health risks as global temperatures continue to rise.
Sugar consumption is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, and has surged worldwide in recent decades. The findings, published in Nature Climate Change, suggest that rising heat could be nudging more people towards high-sugar products such as soda, juice and ice cream.
Climate link to diet
Researchers from the UK and US analysed data from American households between 2004 and 2019 and compared purchases with local weather conditions. They found that for every additional degree Celsius within the range of 12–30°C, people consumed an extra 0.7 grams of sugar per day on average.
Those with lower incomes or less education were the most affected, according to the study. Under worst-case climate scenarios, disadvantaged groups could be consuming up to five additional grams of sugar daily by the end of the century, lead author Pan He of Cardiff University told AFP.
Beyond recommended limits
The American Heart Association recommends a maximum daily intake of 36 grams of added sugar for men and 24 grams for women. However, most Americans already consume two to three times these amounts. A single can of soda contains about 40 grams of sugar.
The study showed that the increase in sugar consumption levelled off once temperatures rose above 30°C. Co-author Duo Chan of the University of Southampton suggested this may be because people had already altered their diets by that point. He warned this could be “even worse news”, as it showed dietary changes were occurring even at lower, not extreme, temperatures.
Substituting frozen treats
The research also indicated a drop in purchases of baked goods on hotter days, likely because consumers were substituting them with ice cream or other frozen desserts.
Health concerns
Unhealthy diets are among the four main risk factors for diseases that account for more than 70 per cent of deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The authors concluded that climate change, by shaping dietary choices, could further worsen public health outcomes.
RESTAURATEUR and writer Camellia Panjabi puts the spotlight on vegetables in her new book, as she said they were never given the status of a “hero” in the way fish, chicken or prawns are.
Panjabi’s Vegetables: The Indian Way features more than 120 recipes, with notes on nutrition, Ayurvedic insights and cooking methods that support digestion.
She told Eastern Eye, “Most families and chefs regularly cook only 15 to 20 types of dishes. Many vegetables in shops are ignored, because people don’t know how to cook them.
“This book gives readers confidence by providing recipes, explanations, and photographs for 30 vegetables. It also shows how they can be prepared in different ways and with different cuisines — not just Indian.”
Panjabi is part of the family that runs Amaya, Chutney Mary’s, Veerswamy and Masala Zone restaurants. She is also the best-selling author of 50 Great Curries, which sold more than two million copies.
She previously worked for Taj Hotels in India, where she was involved in creating menus for various restaurants among other projects. These menus featured Indian, Chinese, Thai, Italian and French cuisines.
When she eventually moved on after three decades, Panjabi realised that vegetables were almost always relegated to the end of a menu as side dishes.
In every cuisine the pattern was the same: starters and mains were prioritised ahead of sides — potatoes, cauliflower, or something similar.
“Yet, on the plate, two-thirds of the food is usually vegetables, while on the menu they only make up about five per cent,” Panjabi said.
Vegetarian meals often relied on mixing several items together — such as in a thali, stir-fries, or paneer combined with three or four vegetables.
A single vegetable was rarely celebrated on its own.
Panjabi listed around 30 varieties used in Indian food, including raw fruits such as banana and jackfruit.This sparked the idea for a book in which each vegetable would have its own section. “If someone has a cabbage, they should be able to look up different ways to cook it so that it becomes the main dish rather than just a side,” she said.
The recipes could be colourful, classical, traditional or inspired by street food.
With Indian dishes, people across the country are now, for the first time, experiencing cuisines from other regions, she said. Her book has 30 chapters on 30 vegetables, each with its own story, origin, and details of fibre content, calories, vitamins and whether it is acidic or alkaline.
Mumbai-born Panjabi, a Cambridge educated economist, is widely credited with shaping Indian fine dining on the global stage. She played a key role in launching Bombay Brasserie in London and later oversaw renowned restaurants including Veeraswamy and Chutney Mary. She was the first female board director of a public company in India, while serving as marketing director of the Taj Group. Now in her eighties, Panjabi said, “In most Indian restaurants in the UK, the vegetarian options are limited to dishes like gobi aloo, saag paneer, chole, and baingan bharta. There is so much more to discover.
“Western readers will see for the first time that they can cook vegetables the Indian way without necessarily making an Indian meal. They could have grilled fish or roast chicken alongside Indianstyle vegetables. That is the breakthrough — it is not limited to cuisine.
Panjabi said writing the book took two decades. “I thought it would take three or four years, but the process of discovery was so enjoyable that it kept extending,” she said. Only when Covid forced her to stay at home did she put it all together.
The result is a 350-page hardback with more than 120 colour photographs. Half the book is devoted to cooking fats, while the rest covers vegetables, lentils and millets. She described it as “almost like a food encyclopaedia,” weaving Ayurvedic wisdom with modern nutritional science.
“Much more research still needs to be done on the nutrition of vegetables,” she said, pointing out that the subject remains under-researched.
Everyday ingredients also find space in the book. She tackles myths aro-und protein deficiency in vegetarian diets, noting that Indians solved this long ago. Rice and dal, when eaten together, provide all nine essential amino acids needed for complete protein. “Dal-chawal has sustained Indian health for centuries,” she said.
Her experience in restaurants influenced her writing. Panjabi travelled across India, visiting research institutions including the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, and consulted scientists studying oils and vegetables.
She said, “When I was young, I felt that Indian food had not received its due recognition globally. My mother always explained the health reasons behind what she cooked, and I realised there must be a huge body of knowledge worth documenting.
“I feel I have only touched the tip of the iceberg (with this book). My hope is that this book will inspire other practitioners and people with influence in Indian food to join this journey.”
Vegetables: The Indian Way was published by Penguin Books
How noticing the changes in my father taught me the importance of early action, patience, and love
I don’t understand people who don’t talk or see their parents often. Unless they have done something to ruin your lives or you had a traumatic childhood, there is no reason you shouldn’t be checking in with them at least every few days if you don’t live with them.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege of looking after my parents – they lived with me while their old house was being sold, and their new house was being renovated.
Within this time, I noticed things happening to my dad (Chamanlal Mulji), an 81-year-old retired joiner. Dad was known as Simba when he lived in Zanzibar, East Africa because he was like a lion. A man in fairly good health, despite being an ex-smoker, he’d only had heart surgery back in 2017. In the last few years, he was having some health issues, but certain things, like his walking and driving becoming slow, and his memory failing, we just put down to old age. Now, my dad was older than my friend’s dad. Many of whom in their 70’s, dad, at 81 was an older dad, not common back in the seventies when he married my mum.
It was only when I spent extended time around my parents that I started noticing that certain things weren’t just due to old age. Some physical symptoms were more serious, but certain things like forgetting that the front door wasn’t the bathroom door, and talking about old memories thinking that they had recently happened rang alarm bells for me and I suspected that he might have dementia.
Dementia generally happens in old age when the brain starts to shrink. Someone described it to me as a person’s brain being like a bookshelf. The books at the top of the shelf are the new memories and the books at the bottom are the new memories. The books at the top have fallen off, leaving only the old memories being remembered. People with dementia are also highly likely to suffer from strokes.
Sadly, my dad was one of the few that suffered a stroke and passed away on 28th June 2025. If you have a parent, family member or anyone you know and you suspect that they might have dementia, please talk to your GP straight away. Waiting lists within the NHS are extremely LONG so the quicker people with dementia are treated, the better. Sadly, the illness cannot be reversed but medication can help it from getting worse.
One thing I would also advise is to have patience. Those suffering with dementia can be agitated and often become aggressive, but that’s only because they’re frustrated that they cannot do things the way they used to.
The disease might hide the person underneath, but there’s still a person in there who needs your love and attention.” - Jamie Calandriello
The holy town of Ambaji witnessed a spiritually significant day on Sunday as His Holiness Siri Rajrajeshwar Guruji, head of the International Siddhashram Shakti Centre, London, performed the Dhwaja ritual at the historic Ambaji Temple in Gujarat, one of the most revered Shakti Peeths of India.
Guruji, who travelled especially from London to be part of the festivities, offered prayers to Goddess Amba and hoisted the sacred flag, a symbol of divine strength, victory, and eternal devotion. Speaking about the ritual, he reminded devotees that the dhwaja inspires courage, faith, and a constant remembrance of the divine in everyday life.
Adding to the spiritual significance of the day, Guruji also personally served Bhandara (community meal) to devotees gathered at the temple premises.