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
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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Recent HBOT News
Combining infliximab, anti-MAP and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for resistant fistulizing Crohn’s disease.
Fistulizing Crohn’s disease (CD) presents a therapeutic challenge as fistulae are notoriously difficult to heal. Mycobacterium avium ss paratuberculosis (MAP) treatment in CD is gaining attention. We evaluated healing of CD fistula(e) using a novel combination therapy. Nine consecutive patients who failed to heal fistulae on conventional treatment including anti-TNF, were treated with at least three doses of infliximab, 18-30 courses of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and anti-MAP antibiotics comprising rifabutin, clarithromycin and clofazimine. All patients achieved complete healing of fistulae by 6-28 weeks and follow-up for mean 18 months.
Clinical Trial – Dexmedetomidine Versus Magnesium Sulphate for Caesarean Delivery
Regional anesthesia has become more popular in cesarean deliveries because most of the
parturients prefer being awake during the birth process. In addition, regional anesthesia may
be a safer method than general. In spinal anesthesia local anesthetics alone may not be
enough for an effective postoperative analgesia and hemodynamic stability of the patient wich
is crucial during cesarean section. So far many adjuvants have been used to augment the
analgesia produced by intrathecal local anesthetics and to reduce their adverse effects .
Various intrathecal adjuvants to local anaesthetics have found to improve the quality and
extend duration of spinal block. Prolongation of duration of spinal block is desirable both
for long procedures and for postoperative pain relief. Efficacy and safty of intrathecal
magnesium as analgesic adjuvant has been tested by several clinical trails in recent
years.Antinociceptive effect of magnesium appears to be relevant for the management of
chronic and post operative pain. These effects are primarily based on regulation of calcium
influx in to the cell. Magnesium blocks calcium influx and non competitively antagonizes NMDA
channels. NMDA receptor signelling plays an impartent in determining the duration of acute
pain3).) addition of magnesium to spinal anaesthesia improved postoperative analgesia in
orthopedic setting. addition of intrathecal magnesium sulfate to 10 mg bupivacaine plus 25µg
fentanyl prolonged spinal anaesthesia in patients undergoing lower extremity surgery.
Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective 2-adrenergic agonist which has been used as
pre-medication and as an adjuvant to general anesthesia.Dexmedetomidine have several
beneficial actions during perioperative period. They decrease sympathetic tone with
attenuation of the neuroendocrine and haemodynamic response to anaesthesia and surgery,
reduce anaesthetic and opiod requirement, cause sedation and analgesia. Dexmedetomidine was
first introduced into clinical practice as a short term intravenous sedative in intensive
care. Like any other adjuvant dexmedetomidine is not free from adverse effects. Use of
dexmedetomidine is often associated with a decrease in heart rate and blood
pressure.Dexmedetomidine was used to enhance the analgesic property of local anaesthetics
like lidocaine bupivacaine and ropivacaine. In vivo and in vitro studies indicated that these
local anaesthetics had significant neurotoxicity. Dexmedetomidine showed protective or growth
promoting properties in tissues, including nerve cells from cortex. Intrathecal
dexmedetomidine has a neuroprotective effect similar to methylprednisolone.
The mechanism by which intrathecal alpha 2-adrenergic agonists prolong the motor and sensory
block of local anesthetics is not clear. It may be an additive or synergistic effect
secondary to the different mechanisms of action of local anesthetic and alpha 2 adrenergic
agonist. The local anesthetics act by blocking sodium channels, whereas the alpha 2
adrenergic agonist acts by binding to pre synapyic C fibre and post synaptic dorsal horn
neurons. Intrathecal alpha 2 adrenergic agonist produce analgesia by depressing the realease
of C fibre transmission by hyperpolarization of post synaptic dorsal horn neurons. Li et al
observed that Glutamate is involved in excitatory neurotransmission nociception and plays an
essential role in relaying noxious stimuli in the spinal cord. Intrathecal injection of alpha
2 adrenergic agonists produces potent antinociceptive effects by altering spinal
neurotransmitter release and effectively treats acute pain.
Efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with mild hyperthermia for improving the anti-tumour effects of carboplatin.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) on the enhancement of hyperthermic chemosensitisation to carboplatin at mild temperatures in experimental tumours. SCCVII carcinoma in C3H/He mice was used to assess tumour...