Hydrogen Water Shows Promise for Dementia Prevention in Clinical Study
- Authors
- Johny Bajgai, Jeong Eunsook, Cheol Su Kim, Ailyn Fadriquela, Dong-Heui Kim, Kyu-Jae Lee
- Journal
- Korean Journal of Waters
- Year
- 2019
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- Dementia
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen water may help reduce signs of dementia by lowering harmful proteins and inflammation in the body.
Key Finding
After 6 months of drinking hydrogen water, dementia patients showed significantly reduced serum amyloid-beta 40 levels and decreased inflammatory and oxidative stress markers compared to those drinking purified water.
Summary
Researchers gave dementia patients hydrogen water (water infused with hydrogen gas through electrolysis) or regular purified water for 6 months and measured various markers in their blood related to brain damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules). They found that hydrogen water reduced levels of amyloid-beta 40 (a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease) and decreased markers of inflammation and oxidative stress compared to the control group.
Practical Takeaway
This early human study suggests hydrogen water may help reduce some biological markers associated with dementia, though the study's limitations—including unreported sample size and lack of cognitive testing results—mean more research is needed before drawing firm conclusions about its effects on actual memory or cognitive function in dementia patients.
Abstract
Hydrogen water (HW) which is produced by electrolysis of water has characteristics of extremely low oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) value and high dissolved hydrogen (DH). It has been proved to have various beneficial effects including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects; however, HW effect on dementia that is associated with cognitive impairment and memory loss, is poorly documented. In the present study, we investigated the drinking effects of hydrogen water on dementia patient for prevention through oxidative stress and immuno redox mechanism. Dementia patients were administered with HW and purified water (PW) for 6 months. Further, we evaluated hydrogen water effect on the cognitive impairment by checking the serum concentration of Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers [Amyloid β (Aβ) 40, Aβ 42 and tau], inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6, IL-13, TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-4, Th1/Th2 cytokines such as IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-12p70 and IL-5, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and nitric oxide (NO) levels. We found that HW treatment significantly decreased the serum level of Aβ 40 after 6 mon of treatment. In parallel, inflammatory cytokines were significantly inhibited in experimental group compared to control group. In line, Th1/Th2 cytokines were significantly decreased in HW than PW group. Furthermore, oxidative stress markers such as ROS and nitric oxide level were decreased in HW treated group than PW control group. Overall our clinical results strongly recommended that drinking hydrogen water might be a promising preventative approach for age-related neurodegenerative disease like dementia and have an enormous impact on future healthcare for the elderly patients. This might be the first note on the clinical application of drinking HW on the serum of dementia patients.