Magnesium Hydride Shows Promise for Hydrogen Therapy Treatment
Clinical Applications of Magnesium Hydride
Research hubs: Oxidative Stress · Immune System
- Evidence type
- Review or commentary
- Authors
- Chung-Hsing Chao
- Journal
- Magnesium Alloys - Selected Issue
- Year
- 2018
- Study Type
- clinical
- Delivery
- mixed
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 6 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- Taiwan
TL;DR
Scientists discovered that hydrogen gas can help protect our cells from damage, and they found a new way to deliver it using a compound called magnesium hydride—which can carry twice as much hydrogen as older methods, making it a potentially better treatment option for diseases caused by cellular damage.
Summary
Scientists investigated magnesium hydride as an improved method for delivering hydrogen therapy. Traditional metallic magnesium has limited hydrogen storage capacity, but magnesium hydride hydrolysis can double this capacity. The study highlights hydrogen's therapeutic potential, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects that protect cells from damage. Multiple delivery methods exist for hydrogen therapy, including gas inhalation, hydrogen water consumption, and hydrogen-saturated saline injection. Hydrogen-water produced through magnesium hydride hydrolysis emerged as particularly promising for on-demand therapeutic use. The research suggests this approach could effectively combat oxygen-derived free radicals and oxidative stress in cellular environments.
Abstract (excerpt)
Oxygen sustains the lives of human a unique element. However, oxygen is unwanted and harmful when it is over tension to introduce oxygen-derived free radicals in the cells. Hydrogen and oxygen are both involved in the genesis of life that exists on Earth and metabolism in vivo, so it is not strange…