Hydrogen Gas Shows Promise for Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
- Authors
- Ahmad Ghanizadeh, Michael Berk
- Journal
- Medical Gas Research
- Year
- 2013
- DOI
- 10.1186/2045-9912-3-11
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Iran
- Health Condition
- Bipolar Disorder
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Scientists think hydrogen gas might help treat serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia because it can reduce harmful inflammation and damage in the brain, similar to how current medications work—but more research is needed to prove it actually helps people.
Key Finding
Molecular hydrogen's anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-apoptotic properties align with biological processes implicated in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, suggesting it warrants clinical investigation as a potential psychiatric treatment.
Summary
This review article examines how molecular hydrogen (a gas) might help treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The authors note that hydrogen has properties that reduce inflammation, oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules), and cell death—all of which are thought to play a role in these psychiatric conditions. They propose that hydrogen could be studied as a potential add-on treatment, since some existing medications for these disorders work through similar mechanisms.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article proposing a hypothesis, not a study with human results—no clinical trials of hydrogen for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia have been completed yet. While the theoretical reasoning is interesting, any therapeutic use for psychiatric conditions remains entirely speculative at this stage and would require rigorous clinical testing before being considered.
Abstract
Hydrogen gas is a bioactive molecule that has a diversity of effects, including anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties; these overlap with the process of neuroprogression in major psychiatric disorders. Specifically, both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are associated with increased oxidative and inflammatory stress. Moreover, lithium which is commonly administered for treating bipolar disorder has effects on oxidative stress and apoptotic pathways, as do valproate and some atypical antipsychotics for treating schizophrenia. Molecular hydrogen has been studied pre-clinically in animal models for the treatment of some medical conditions including hypoxia and neurodegenerative disorders, and there are intriguing clinical findings in neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease. Therefore, it is hypothesized that administration of hydrogen molecule may have potential as a novel therapy for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other concurrent disorders characterized by oxidative, inflammatory and apoptotic dysregulation.