Many diseases are caused by oxidative stress that persists over a long period of time. Oxidative stress can lead to severe tissue damage. Although it is important to reduce this oxidative damage, the use of conventional antioxidants has been without much success. In 2007, science discovered molecular hydrogen as a novel antioxidant in the treatment and prevention of disease.

What is cardiovascular disease?

Cardiovascular disease is a broad term for a range of diseases that affect the heart and circulatory system.

A myocardial infarction occurs when a blood clot or atherosclerotic plaque blocks the coronary arteries that supply a specific part of the heart muscle. This leads to the death of muscle cells. There are drugs that can dissolve this clot and lead to reperfusion of the tissue. But when this happens, the sudden build-up of oxidative stress can also damage the heart muscle, leading to what is known as ischaemia-reperfusion injury. The same mechanism can happen in the brain during a stroke, leading to the release of reactive oxygen species.

How does hydrogen help with heart disease?

Scientists have done a lot of research on the effects of molecular hydrogen on the heart and brain. Hydrogen has been used in experiments involving cardiac arrest in animals. Adequately resuscitated rats were given hydrogen to inhale for one group and not the other. The rats with hydrogen inhalation had an increased survival rate, a good neurological outcome and a reduction in histological changes compared to rats that did not inhale hydrogen gas.

Hydrogen is a powerful antioxidant and can scavenge oxygen free radicals

The beneficial effect shown in this study can be attributed to this property of hydrogen.

Several other studies have been conducted regarding cardiac arrest. When hydrogen was administered intraperitoneally to rabbits in cardiac arrest, it also improved survival rates and neurological outcome with reduced neuronal injury and death.

In another study with rats, hydrogen administered intravenously improved outcome after cardiac arrest. The researchers speculated that this effect was not only due to its antioxidant property, but also to other, lesser-known properties such as anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory properties. As these effects are very promising, it could be used in rescue in the future, so that not only oxygen but also hydrogen (Brown's gas) is administered simultaneously in emergency situations.

One human study worth mentioning was conducted in 2017

This randomised controlled trial involved 50 patients with acute stage cerebral infarction of mild to moderate severity: 25 of them received 3% hydrogen gas for inhalation (one hour twice a day) and 25 were in the control group without hydrogen inhalation. Regular MRI checks of the patients had shown that the severity of pathological changes in the infarct area of the brain was significantly lower in the hydrogen group compared to the control group and approached normal more quickly. Furthermore, the physiotherapeutic evaluation was assessed by means of the so-called Barthes index, a method for assessing the patients' ability to cope with everyday life. This improved significantly in the hydrogen group. The treatment with hydrogen was safe to use. The researchers confirmed the potential for broad and general application of hydrogen gas therapy.

Cardio-pulmonary bypass is a surgical procedure performed on patients with blocked blood vessels. When hydrogen gas was administered after bypass surgery in a rat model, hydrogen was able to reduce inflammatory mediators such as cytokines. This anti-inflammatory effect could be used in the future as a novel therapy after bypass surgery.

The effect of hydrogen was also studied in rats after a myocardial infarction

It significantly improved left heart function while reducing infarct size and improving function. Hydrogen gas also prevented left ventricular remodelling (the process of changing the size, shape and function of the heart chamber) after a myocardial infarction.

In a pig model, researchers were able to reduce infarct size by inhaling 2% oxygen. To avoid ischaemia and reperfusion injury, post-conditioning must be done carefully. When hydrogen was given, infarct size reduced along with the apoptosis index. The researchers suggested that this effect was due to the down-regulation of Akt and GSK3β in myocardial tissue.

Considering all these applications in cardiovascular diseases, hydrogen can be considered as a novel drug with great potential in the future, not least in emergency medicine.

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Hirohisa Ono, MD, Yoji Nishijima, MD,Shigeo Ohta, PhD, et al. Hydrogen Gas Inhalation Treatment in Acute Cerebral Infarction: A Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial of Safety and Neuroprotection. Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular diseases, Vol 26, No.11, 2017: pp 2587-2594 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2017.06.012Get