I think they were talking about this study and nitric oxide:
http://www.physoc.org/publications/pn/issuepdf/55/16-17.pdf
I recall seeing (Divernet?) news about that, the references to pills being probably a product of the journalistic process, ie. wild imagination and guesswork.
Dr. Alf Brubakk did a nice presentation about that and heat shock proteins etc in the Stockholm Tech Diving 2006 conference.
//LN