Hydrogen Therapy Shows Promise for Eye Diseases and Retinal Protection

Scientists found that hydrogen gas acts like a superhero cleanup crew for your eyes by getting rid of harmful stuff that damages your vision, and because it's so tiny, it can get inside cells to fix problems before they cause diseases like diabetic eye damage.

Hydrogen's small molecular size and ability to penetrate cell membranes and mitochondria make it theoretically well-suited to reduce oxidative stress in retinal diseases.

This review article examines how hydrogen might help treat eye diseases, particularly those affecting the retina (the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye). Hydrogen acts as an antioxidant, meaning it can neutralize harmful molecules called hydroxyl radicals that damage cells. Because hydrogen molecules are small and can pass through cell membranes easily, they may reach damaged areas inside cells and mitochondria (the cell's energy centers). The review summarizes research suggesting hydrogen could help prevent or treat conditions like diabetic retinopathy, retinal damage from reduced blood flow, and light-induced retinal injury.

While this review identifies hydrogen as a promising candidate for eye disease treatment based on laboratory and animal studies, it is not a clinical study with human results. The authors acknowledge that further clinical research is needed to determine the best ways to deliver hydrogen to the eye and establish effective treatment protocols. Anyone with eye disease should consult their ophthalmologist rather than relying on hydrogen water as a treatment.

Oxidative stress is thought to be associated with many common ophthalmic diseases. Recently studies showed that hydrogen is an antioxidant, and it can selectively reduce the hydroxyl radicals and therefore is used to the prevention and treatment of many diseases, such as retinal neovascularization…

Read the full abstract via DOI