Hydrogen Water May Help Prevent Cataracts by Fighting Eye Damage
- Authors
- Limin Qin, Ye Tao, Liqiang Wang, Hong Chen, Ying Liu, Yi-Fei Huang
- Journal
- Medical Science Monitor
- Year
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.12659/msm.899807
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Cataracts
- Body System
- Visual
TL;DR
Scientists think a special salt water with hydrogen in it could help prevent cataracts (cloudy eyes that cause blindness) by fighting harmful molecules called free radicals that damage the eye lens—and the cool part is that hydrogen can get into the deepest parts of cells better than other treatments we already use. They're saying this idea is worth testing more to see if it actually works.
Key Finding
This is a hypothesis paper proposing that hydrogen-rich saline could protect lens proteins from oxidative damage, not a study with experimental results.
Summary
This paper proposes that hydrogen-rich saline could help prevent or treat cataracts (clouding of the eye lens), which is a major cause of blindness worldwide. The authors argue that cataracts develop partly due to oxidative stress—an imbalance where harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species accumulate and damage eye tissue. They suggest that molecular hydrogen might protect against this damage because it can penetrate deep into cells and neutralize these harmful molecules, potentially better than other antioxidants.
Practical Takeaway
This paper presents a theoretical argument rather than evidence from experiments or human trials. While the proposed mechanism is scientifically plausible, there are currently no study results presented to support whether hydrogen-rich saline actually prevents or treats cataracts in people. Anyone interested in this approach should await actual clinical research before considering it.
Abstract
Cataract is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Increasing evidence indicates that oxidative stress is an important risk factor contributing to the development of cataract. Moreover, the enhancement of the antioxidant defense system may be beneficial to prevent or delay the cataractogenesis. The term oxidative stress has been defined as a disturbance in the equilibrium status of oxidant/antioxidant systems with progressive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in intact cells. Superfluous ROS can damage proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids within ocular tissues that are closely correlated with cataract formation. Therefore, prevention of oxidative stress damage by antioxidants might be considered as a viable means of medically offsetting the progression of this vision-impairing disease. Molecular hydrogen has recently been verified to have protective and therapeutic value as an antioxidant through its ability to selectively reduce cytotoxic ROS such as hydroxyl radical (OH). Hitherto, hydrogen has been used as a therapeutic element against multiple pathologies in both animal models and human patients. Unlike most well-known antioxidants, which are unable to successfully target organelles, hydrogen has advantageous distribution characteristics enabling it to penetrate biomembranes and diffuse into the cytosol, mitochondria, and nucleus. Consequently, we speculate that hydrogen might be an effective antioxidant to protect against lens damage, and it is important to further explore the biological mechanism underlying its potential therapeutic effects.