Hydrogen and Nitric Oxide Therapy Helps Long COVID Breathing Problems
- Authors
- D.D. Pozdnyakova, T.A. Bakhareva, I.A. Baranova, V.D. Selemir, A.G. Chuchalin
- Journal
- Terapevticheskii Arkhiv
- Year
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.26442/00403660.2024.03.202639
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Russia
- Health Condition
- Post-COVID-19 Syndrome
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Inhaling a mixture of nitric oxide and hydrogen gas helped improve breathing difficulties, fatigue, and overall quality of life in patients suffering from long-term COVID-19 symptoms.
Key Finding
Patients with post-COVID-19 respiratory symptoms who inhaled a combination of nitric oxide and molecular hydrogen for 10 days experienced significant reductions in shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, and palpitations, along with improved exercise tolerance and quality of life scores compared to untreated controls.
Summary
This study tested whether inhaling a mixture of nitric oxide and molecular hydrogen could help 34 patients recovering from long-term COVID-19 symptoms, particularly breathing problems. Patients who received 90 minutes of daily inhalations for 10 days showed improvements in shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, and heart palpitations compared to a control group that received no treatment. They also walked farther in a 6-minute walking test and showed signs of reduced cellular damage in their blood.
Practical Takeaway
This small, unblinded study suggests that inhaled nitric oxide and hydrogen gas may help some post-COVID-19 patients with breathing problems, but the findings are preliminary. The study lacked a placebo control group and involved only 34 patients, so larger, more rigorous trials would be needed before drawing firm conclusions about effectiveness. Anyone considering such treatment should consult their healthcare provider.
Abstract
Рost-COVID-19 syndrome (PS) is one of the medical and social problem. According to WHO, 10-20% of COVID-19 patients suffer from PS. The use of medical gases - inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) and molecular hydrogen (iH2) - may influence on the mechanisms of development PC. Aim: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the combined inhalation of NO and H2 (iNO/iH2) in patients with respiratory manifestations of PS. Materials and methods: 34 patients with PS (11 men/23 women, 60.0±11.7 years) were included in the prospective open-label controlled study in parallel groups: the main group (n=17) received iNO/iH2 for 90 minutes once a day for 10 days (concentration of NO 60 ppm, H2<4% in the gas mixture), the control group (n=17) didn't receive inhalations. The period from the confirmation of COVID-19 to the start of the study was 641.8±230.5 days. The groups did not differ in the baseline parameters. The clinical symptoms (from the self-observation diary and mMRC questionnaires, "dyspnea language"), FAS, HADS, SF-36 scores, 6-minute walk test, the blood serum parameters of oxidative stress, the dynamics of the microcirculation in the eye bulbar conjunctiva were evaluated. The individual dose of iNO has chosen during a 15-minute test (the positive dynamics of the microcirculation have indicated that the dose was selected correctly). Results: The decrease the symptoms severity, such as dyspnea, cough, fatigue and palpitations (p<0.005), the increase in SF-36 questionnaire scores (p=0.006) and a reducing of FAS score (p=0.001), as well as the anxiety component of HADS (p=0.02) were revealed at the end of treatment in the main group compared to the control group. We observed an improvement in distance walked (p=0.01) and the values SpO2 (p=0.04) in 6-minute walk test, the increase in the volumetric blood flow velocity in venules (p<0.001), and the date in oxidative damage (p<0.001) and antioxidant activity (p=0.03) parameters in the blood serum. Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrate clinical efficacy iNO/iH2 on clinical indicators, parameters of oxidative stress and microcirculation in patients with PS.