Hydrogen Water Reduces Fatigue in Long-COVID Patients After 14 Days
- Authors
- Yineng Tan, Yixun Xie, Gengxin Dong, Mingyue Yin, Zhangyuting Shang, Kaixiang Zhou, Dapeng Bao, Junhong Zhou
- Journal
- Nutrients
- Year
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.3390/nu16101529
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Long COVID
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water for two weeks helped reduce fatigue and improve physical function and sleep in people with Long COVID, but it didn't help with their shortness of breath.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water consumption for 14 days significantly reduced fatigue and improved physical endurance and sleep quality in Long-COVID patients, but did not improve shortness of breath.
Summary
In this 14-day study, 32 Long-COVID patients either drank hydrogen-rich water or regular water. Researchers measured fatigue, breathing difficulty, physical function, sleep quality, and mood before and after. Hydrogen-rich water reduced fatigue and improved walking distance, leg strength, and sleep quality compared to placebo, but did not improve shortness of breath or mood symptoms.
Practical Takeaway
This small pilot study suggests hydrogen-rich water may help with fatigue and physical function in Long-COVID, but the results are preliminary—only 32 people participated and the study lasted just two weeks. The finding that it didn't help with breathing difficulty suggests hydrogen water may not be a universal Long-COVID treatment. More research with larger groups and longer follow-up is needed before drawing firm conclusions.
Abstract
(1) Background: Hydrogen (H2) may be a potential therapeutic agent for managing Long COVID symptoms due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, more scientific literature is needed to describe the effects of H2 administration on treating symptoms. A study aimed to investigate the impact of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) administration on the fatigue and dyspnea of Long-COVID patients for 14 consecutive days. (2) Methods: In this randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study, 55 participants were recruited, and 23 of them were excluded. A total of 32 eligible participants were randomized into a hydrogen-rich water (HRW) group (n = 16) and a placebo water (PW) group (n = 16) in which they were instructed to consume hydrogen-rich water or placebo water for 14 days, respectively. The participants completed the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Six-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), 30 s Chair Stand Test (30s-CST), Modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Rating Scale (mMRC), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21) before and after the intervention. A linear mixed-effects model was used to analyze the effects of HRW. Cohen's d values were used to assess the effect size when significance was observed. The mean change with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) was also reported. (3) Results: The effects of HRW on lowering FSS scores (p = 0.046, [95% CI = -20.607, -0.198, d = 0.696] and improving total distance in the 6WMT (p 0.143). (4) Conclusions: This study demonstrates that HRW might be an effective strategy for alleviating fatigue and improving cardiorespiratory endurance, musculoskeletal function, and sleep quality. Still, it does not ameliorate dyspnea among Long-COVID patients.