HBOT Conversations:
Dr. Jay Stevens

Optimizing Health & Longevity

Dr. James “Jay” Stevens is the Medical Director of Extivita-RTP.  He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Doctor of Medicine from East Carolina University School of Medicine. He completed a Family Practice Residency at the Fairfax Family Practice Program at the Medical College of Virginia and the first Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1991. He is Board Certified in both Family Practice and Anti-aging Medicine. He also holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine. In 2003 he founded Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine with locations in Cary, Raleigh, and Holly Springs, NC. He has served as the Team Physician for the National Hockey League’s 2006 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes since their arrival in 1997. He also serves as Company Physician for the Carolina Ballet.

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Dr. Jay Stevens, Medical Director at Extivta, returns to HBOT News Network to discuss ways to optimize your health & longevity. In addition to being the Medical Director at Extivita, Dr. Stevens is also the Medical Director & Provider for the Cary, NC location of Essential Health.  Essential Health has many locations across the country.

We are lucky to have Dr. Stevens here to share the insightful data and information he has come across over the course of his career.

Dr. Stevens starts by explaining that there is in fact a difference between someone’s health span and life span. Health span can be defined or looked at by how long can someone live before they succumb to disease? While, life span is more along the lines of quality of life, and wanting to live as long as possible.  With life span, a person wants to keep the body as young, disease-free and as healthy as possible. This is where longevity fits in, because it ultimately is the desire to achieve the longest life span possible. But, he reminds us that functional medicine can never exist without conventional medicine. They both play a part in someone’s longevity and keeping diseases away.

Yet, how exactly does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy play a part in a person’s longevity goals? Dr. Stevens states that he sees HBOT as elegant and simplistic; because to create energy, we require a nutrient and oxygen. It’s as simple as that.  But, our environments keep mucking that process up — toxins, poor diet, too much sugar, etc. We must look at Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as a mechanism to improve cellular energy production.  He further explains that when we focus on optimizing everything about the cell lifestyle and then apply oxygen, we have a recipe to achieve the best outcome in energy production. But, why is energy production so important for longevity?!  Because energy production in your immune system predicts how your immune system will function – more energy production and your immune system is boosted to preform better, thus optimizing the chances of keeping disease and illness away.

The topic of the immune system leads us into a discussion on immunosenescence and why it is so important. Dr. Stevens explains that ultimately, the longevity of our lives is predicted by our immune system.  Thankfully Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is known to slow down the rate of decline in an aging immune system, and increase our body’s ability to regenerate stem cells.

Dr. Stevens again touches on the power of extended fasting, and why it plays such an important role in optimal health & longevity.

Dr. Stevens starts by explaining that there is in fact a difference between someone’s health span and life span. Health span can be defined or looked at by how long can someone live before they succumb to disease? While, life span is more along the lines of quality of life, and wanting to live as long as possible.  With life span, a person wants to keep the body as young, disease-free and as healthy as possible. This is where longevity fits in, because it ultimately is the desire to achieve the longest life span possible. But, he reminds us that functional medicine can never exist without conventional medicine. They both play a part in someone’s longevity and keeping diseases away.

Yet, how exactly does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy play a part in a person’s longevity goals? Dr. Stevens states that he sees HBOT as elegant and simplistic; because to create energy, we require a nutrient and oxygen. It’s as simple as that.  But, our environments keep mucking that process up — toxins, poor diet, too much sugar, etc. We must look at Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as a mechanism to improve cellular energy production.  He further explains that when we focus on optimizing everything about the cell lifestyle and then apply oxygen, we have a recipe to achieve the best outcome in energy production. But, why is energy production so important for longevity?!  Because energy production in your immune system predicts how your immune system will function – more energy production and your immune system is boosted to preform better, thus optimizing the chances of keeping disease and illness away.

The topic of the immune system leads us into a discussion on immunosenescence and why it is so important. Dr. Stevens explains that ultimately, the longevity of our lives is predicted by our immune system.  Thankfully Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is known to slow down the rate of decline in an aging immune system, and increase our body’s ability to regenerate stem cells.

Dr. Stevens again touches on the power of extended fasting, and why it plays such an important role in optimal health & longevity.

 

Guest

Robert Beckman

Dr. Jay Stevens

Dr. James “Jay” Stevens earned a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Doctor of Medicine from East Carolina University School of Medicine. He completed a Family Practice Residency at the Fairfax Family Practice Program at the Medical College of Virginia and the first Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1991. He is Board Certified in both Family Practice and Anti-aging Medicine. He also has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine. In 2003 he founded Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine with locations in Cary, Raleigh, and Holly Springs, NC. He has served as the Team Physician for the National Hockey League’s 2006 Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes since their arrival in 1997. He serves as Company Physician for the Carolina Ballet as well.

In 2009, his commitment to helping his patients create healthy lifestyles for long-term wellness, along with his desire to provide the highest quality health care services, motivated Dr. Stevens to establish Essential Health & Wellness (EHW). EHW offers its patients a comprehensive health care service tailored around their busy schedules with the goal of optimizing their performance and longevity.

In 2018, he continued this commitment to long-term wellness of his patients by becoming the Medical Director at Extivita RTP, a hyperbaric oxygen therapy facility with two, twelve seat treatment chambers in the Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC.

Dr. Stevens is also a Fellow in both the American Academy of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and the American Academy of Family Practice. He is a member of the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine and Hyperbaric Medicine International.

Dr. Stevens lives in Cary, NC with his wife, Dr. Patience Stevens. They have three sons Eric, James, and Timothy. He is passionate about surfing, triathlon and almost any form of exercise.

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Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on depression and anxiety in the patients with incomplete spinal cord injury (a STROBE-compliant article).

Little research has been done on the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on depression and anxiety after spinal cord injury (SCI). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of HBO on psychological problems and never function, especially on depression and anxiety in the patients with incomplete SCI (ISCI).Sixty patients with ISCI combined with depression and anxiety were randomly divided into HBO group (20 cases), psychotherapy group (20 cases), and conventional rehabilitation control group (20 cases). All patients received routine rehabilitation therapy. However, in HBO group and psychotherapy group, patients also received HBO and psychotherapy, respectively. These therapies lasted for a total of 8 weeks (once a day and 6 days per week). Before and after 8 weeks of treatment, depression and anxiety, nerve function, and activities of daily living were, respectively, evaluated according to Hamilton Depression (HAMD) scale, Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA) scale, American Spinal Injury Association score, and functional independence measure score in all patients.After 8 weeks of treatment, HAMD score was significantly lower in both HBO group and psychotherapy group than in control group (all P < .05), but there was no statistical difference in HAMD score between HBO group and psychotherapy group (P > .05). HAMA score was significantly lower in HBO group than in control group (P < .05), but there was no statistical difference in HAMA score between HBO group and psychotherapy group, and between psychotherapy group and control group (all P > .05). After 8 weeks of treatment, American Spinal Injury Association and functional independence measure scores were significantly higher in HBO group than in both psychological and control groups, and also higher in psychotherapy group than in control group (all P < .05).The effects of HBO on depression and anxiety are similar to that of psychotherapy. HBO can significantly improve nerve function and activities of daily living in the patients with ISCI, which either psychotherapy or routine rehabilitation therapy can not substitute.

Clinical Trial – The Effects of Spinal Anesthesia on ED50 and BIS50 of Etomidate for the Loss of Consciousness

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of spinal anesthesia on ED50 and BIS50
of etomidate for the loss of consciousness (LOC) by using up-and-down method.The hypothesis
was that spinal anesthesia could significantly reduce the etomidate bolus dose for the LOC
and could also achieve hemodynamic stability during anesthesia induction.