Hydrogen Gas Shows Promise for Heart Attack Recovery in First Human Study
- Authors
- Yoshinori Katsumata, Fumiya Sano, Takayuki Abe, Tomoyoshi Tamura, Taishi Fujisawa, Yasuyuki Shiraishi, Shun Kohsaka, Ikuko Ueda, Koichiro Homma, Masaru Suzuki, Shigeo Okuda, Yuichiro Maekawa, Eiji Kobayashi, Shingo Hori, Junichi Sasaki, Keiichi Fukuda, Motoaki Sano
- Journal
- Circulation Journal
- Year
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1253/circj.CJ-17-0105
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- ST-Elevated Myocardial Infarction
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Inhaling a mixture of hydrogen gas and oxygen during a heart attack treatment may be safe and could potentially help the heart recover better over time.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas inhalation during emergency heart procedures was safe with no severe adverse events, and patients receiving hydrogen showed numerically greater improvements in heart function measures at 6-month follow-up compared to controls, though the study was too small to confirm effectiveness.
Summary
This small pilot study tested whether breathing hydrogen gas during a heart procedure could help patients who had a sudden heart attack (STEMI). Twenty patients either received hydrogen gas mixed with oxygen or oxygen alone during their procedure. The researchers found no serious side effects from the hydrogen gas. While the amount of heart damage was similar between groups one week after the procedure, patients who received hydrogen showed better improvement in heart function over the next six months.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage pilot study in only 20 patients, so results are preliminary and cannot yet guide treatment decisions. The safety profile appears favorable, but the study was not designed to prove whether hydrogen actually works—larger clinical trials are needed before any conclusions can be drawn about its benefit for heart attack patients.
Abstract (excerpt)
Background: Hydrogen gas inhalation (HI) reduced infarct size and mitigated adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling in a rat model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We designed a prospective, open-label, rater-blinded clinical pilot study in patients experiencing ST-elevated MI (STEMI).Methods…