Hydrogen Therapy: A Multi-Disease Treatment vs Single-Target Drugs
- Authors
- Shin-Ichi Hirano, Yusuke Ichikawa, Bunpei Sato, Yoshiyasu Takefuji, Fumitake Satoh
- Journal
- Medical Gas Research
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.4103/2045-9912.344982
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Oxidative Stress Disorders
- Body System
- Cellular
TL;DR
Hydrogen gas might be way better than regular medicines because it attacks the root causes of lots of diseases instead of just treating symptoms, and scientists say it does this without the harmful side effects that normal drugs have.
Key Finding
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Summary
This comprehensive review examined how molecular hydrogen therapy represents a paradigm shift from conventional medicine. While traditional drugs target specific symptoms like 'rifle guns,' hydrogen therapy works like a 'machine gun' by addressing root causes of multiple diseases simultaneously. Researchers found that hydrogen selectively removes harmful reactive oxygen species, particularly hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite, which cause oxidative stress in mitochondria and chronic inflammation. This broad-spectrum approach allows hydrogen to treat various conditions at once without the adverse effects common in pharmaceutical treatments. The findings suggest hydrogen therapy could revolutionize medical treatment by focusing on underlying disease mechanisms rather than isolated symptoms.
Abstract
Most of the drugs used in modern medical treatments are symptomatic treatments and are far from being a cure for the diseases. The adverse effects are unavoidable in the drugs in modern medical treatments. Molecular hydrogen (H2) has a remarkable therapeutic effect on various diseases, and many clinical studies have reported that H2 has no adverse effects. Therefore, H2 is a novel medical gas that is outside the concept of modern medical treatment. H2, unlike drugs, works on the root of many diseases by scavenging the two kinds of strong reactive oxygen species, hydroxyl radical (·OH) and peroxynitrite (ONOO-). Since the H2 alleviates the root of diseases and can treat many diseases at the same time, the medical application of H2 may be called "machine gun therapy." In this review, we demonstrated that the root of many diseases is based on ·OH-induced oxidative stress in the mitochondria, and at the same time, the root of chronic inflammation is also attributed to ·OH.