Hydrogen Gas Shows Promise for Heart Attacks and Emergency Medicine
- Authors
- Motoaki Sano, Tomoyoshi Tamura
- Journal
- Current Pharmaceutical Design
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.2174/1381612826666201221150857
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Myocardial Infarction
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Scientists found that breathing in hydrogen gas can help treat serious medical emergencies like heart attacks and help preserve organs for transplants by reducing damage to the body's tissues. This is exciting because hydrogen gas is cheap, easy to use, and could save lives in emergency situations.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas may reduce organ damage from ischemia-reperfusion injury in emergency conditions including heart attacks, cardiac arrest, and organ transplantation, and appears to work through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms.
Summary
This review article examines hydrogen gas (H2) as a potential medical treatment, summarizing findings from laboratory and clinical studies. Researchers found that hydrogen gas may help reduce organ damage caused by lack of blood flow and oxygen (ischemia-reperfusion injury), particularly in emergencies like heart attacks and cardiac arrest, as well as in organ transplantation. The gas appears to work by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules), and China's health authority has recommended it as an additional treatment alongside oxygen for severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article summarizing existing research rather than a new study, so it does not provide direct evidence about hydrogen water for consumer use. The research discussed focuses on medical-grade hydrogen gas in clinical emergencies and organ preservation—not on hydrogen-enriched drinking water. While early evidence suggests hydrogen gas has therapeutic potential in specific medical settings, this review does not address whether hydrogen water provides similar benefits for general health.
Abstract (excerpt)
Background: Mounting evidence indicates that hydrogen gas (H2) is a versatile therapeutic agent, even at very low, non-combustible concentrations. The Chinese National Health and Medical Commission recently recommended the use of inhaled H2 in addition to O2 therapy in the treatment…