Hydrogen Gas Shows Promise for Treating COVID-19 Inflammation
- Authors
- Yingning Li, Zhen Wang, Naqi Lian, Yuzun Wang, Weiqiang Zheng, Keliang Xie
- Journal
- Frontiers in Medicine
- Year
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.3389/fmed.2021.671215
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- COVID-19
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Scientists think hydrogen gas might help treat COVID-19 by reducing the dangerous inflammation that happens when your body fights the virus, and early tests in China show it could actually work as an extra treatment option.
Key Finding
Molecular hydrogen may help reduce the excessive inflammatory response (called a cytokine storm) that occurs in severe COVID-19, based on its known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties demonstrated in other diseases.
Summary
This review article examines how molecular hydrogen might help treat COVID-19 by reducing excessive inflammation, which is a major problem in severe cases of the disease. The authors note that hydrogen has anti-inflammatory properties shown in other diseases, and they discuss a clinical study in China where patients inhaled a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas. The article analyzes whether hydrogen could be a useful additional treatment alongside standard COVID-19 therapies, though it does not present new experimental results.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article that synthesizes existing research rather than reporting new clinical data, and no specific results or sample sizes are provided. While a hydrogen-oxygen inhalation study in China has been referenced in clinical protocols, this article does not present rigorous evidence of effectiveness in COVID-19 patients. Any consideration of hydrogen therapy for COVID-19 should await results from properly designed clinical trials.
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute respiratory disease caused by a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has no specific and effective treatment. The pathophysiological process of the COVID-19 is an excessive inflammatory response after an organism infects with a virus. Inflammatory storms play an important role in the development of the COVID-19. A large number of studies have confirmed that hydrogen has a therapeutic effect on many diseases via inhibiting excessive inflammatory cells and factors. Recently, a study led by the Academician Zhong Nanshan in China on the treatment of the patients with the COVID-19 by inhalation of a mixed gas composed of hydrogen and oxygen has attracted widespread international attention and hydrogen therapy has also been included in a new treatment plan for the COVID-19 in China. This study mainly describes the mechanism of occurrence of the COVID-19, summarizes the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of hydrogen on the critical disease, and analyzes the feasibility and potential therapeutic targets of hydrogen for the treatment of the COVID-19.