Hydrogen Therapy Helps Depression and Anxiety in Drug Users
- Authors
- Yong Wang, Mengmeng Wang, Bing Xie, Di Wen, Wenbo Li, Meiqi Zhou, Xintao Wang, Yun Lu, Bin Cong, Zhiyu Ni, Chunling Ma
- Journal
- Brain Research Bulletin
- Year
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2022.12.003
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Depression
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Drinking or inhaling hydrogen may help improve mental health issues in people who use methamphetamine by affecting their gut bacteria.
Key Finding
Molecular hydrogen intervention through drinking or inhalation significantly reduced depression and anxiety symptoms in people with methamphetamine addiction, with hydrogen inhalation also altering dysbiotic (imbalanced) gut bacteria profiles.
Summary
This study examined whether molecular hydrogen (a gas produced naturally by gut bacteria) could help people with methamphetamine addiction who also have depression and anxiety. Researchers measured depression and anxiety symptoms and analyzed gut bacteria samples from methamphetamine users and compared them to healthy people. They found that methamphetamine users had higher depression and anxiety scores and less diverse gut bacteria, particularly lower levels of bacteria that produce hydrogen. When methamphetamine users received molecular hydrogen through drinking or inhaling it, their depression and anxiety symptoms improved, and inhalation also changed their gut bacteria composition.
Practical Takeaway
While this human study suggests hydrogen may help with mental health symptoms in methamphetamine users, important details like sample size and study duration were not reported, making it difficult to assess the strength of these findings. This appears to be early-stage research, and more rigorous studies with larger groups and longer follow-up periods would be needed before hydrogen could be considered a reliable treatment for substance use or mental health disorders.
Abstract (excerpt)
Methamphetamine (METH) is a potent and highly addictive psychostimulant and one of the most widely used illicit drugs, the abuse of which has become a severe public health problem worldwide. A growing amount of evidence has indicated potential connections between gut microbiota and mental disorders…