Hydrogen Shows Promise as Medical Gas for Multiple Health Conditions
- Authors
- Atsunori Nakao
- Journal
- Gas and Medical Application: IV. H2
- Year
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.1159/000321946
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- United States
- Health Condition
- Multiple disease models
- Body System
- Cellular
TL;DR
Scientists discovered that hydrogen gas can help protect our body from damage and disease by reducing inflammation and stopping cells from dying, and they found several safe ways to deliver it to patients—like breathing it in or drinking it in special water—which could lead to exciting new medical treatments.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas has been identified as a signaling molecule with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cell-protective properties in laboratory and animal research.
Summary
This is a review article that summarizes research on hydrogen gas as a potential medical treatment. Studies have suggested that hydrogen may have protective effects on cells and organs by reducing oxidation (a type of cellular damage), decreasing inflammation, and preventing cell death. Hydrogen can be delivered to the body through inhalation, drinking hydrogen-infused water, or injection, and researchers have tested it in various disease models.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review of existing research rather than a new study, so it does not provide direct evidence about hydrogen water's effects in humans. While the review suggests hydrogen shows promise in animal and laboratory studies, most research to date has not been conducted in people, and the practical benefits for human health remain unclear.
Abstract
A number of basic and clinical researches have revealed that hydrogen is an important physiological regulatory factor with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic protective effects on cells and organs, with properties to mitigate various disease status. Recently, hydrogen gas has been identified as a signaling gas molecule like nitric oxide and carbon monoxide. Therapeutic hydrogen has been applied by different delivery methods including straightforward inhalation, drinking hydrogen dissolved in water and injection with hydrogen-saturated saline. Herein, I summarize currently available data regarding the protective role of hydrogen in medicine, provide an outline of recent advances in research on the use of hydrogen as a therapeutic medical gas in diverse models of disease, and discuss the feasibility of hydrogen as a therapeutic strategy. Hydrogen’s impact on therapeutic and preventive medicine could be enormous in the future.Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel