Hydrogen Water Shows Promise for Severe Post-Transplant Complications

TL;DR

Drinking hydrogen-rich water appears to be a safe and effective treatment for patients suffering from chronic graft-versus-host-disease after stem cell transplantation.

Key Finding

In patients with steroid-resistant chronic graft-versus-host disease, 75% achieved objective improvement with hydrogen-rich water treatment, and responders had an 86.6% four-year survival rate compared to 0% in non-responders.

Summary

This study tested whether hydrogen-rich water could help patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (a serious condition where immune cells from a bone marrow transplant attack the patient's own body) who were not responding to steroid medications. Twenty-four patients drank hydrogen-rich water three times daily, and researchers tracked improvements in their skin, mouth, digestive system, liver, eyes, lungs, and joints every three months. Three-quarters of the patients showed improvement, no serious side effects occurred, and patients who responded to the treatment had much better survival rates over four years.

Practical Takeaway

This early-stage human trial suggests hydrogen-rich water may help a specific and serious post-transplant condition, but the study was small, uncontrolled (patients knew they were receiving treatment), and focused on a narrow patient population. These results would need confirmation in larger, controlled trials before drawing broader conclusions about hydrogen water's effectiveness.

Abstract (excerpt)

Chronic graft-versus-host-disease (cGVHD) is the leading cause of late non-relapse mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT). There is no standard therapy for patients refractory or dependent to corticosteroid treatment. We hypothesized that hydrogen may exert…

Read the full abstract via DOI