So what do we know about molecular hydrogen, a hydrogen gas also known as H2? More and more scientific studies are now confirming that molecular Hydrogen is a valuable healing and health supporting agent for the body.
In various well documented studies across a wide range of diseases, H2 has become a hot research subject. A review of the peer reviewed scientific literature and articles in medical journals now identifies the benefits of H2 covering autism, diabetes, various aspects of metabolic syndrome, weight loss, Parkinson’s disease, atherosclerosis, pain syndromes and ischemia-reperfusion injuries which can occur due to strokes and heart attacks. Observational results in clinician offices have shown benefits across a wide variety of conditions.
What Is Molecular Hydrogen Water?
Molecular Hydrogen Water or H2 water contains active hydrogen ions that act as powerful antioxidants in the human and animal bodies. These ions help eliminate oxygen free radicals that contribute to the development of illness and ultimately are responsible for the aging process. Our body takes in the H2 and convert it into hydrogen anions, H-. or commonly termed as active hydrogen. Active Molecular Hydrogen is a powerful anti-oxidant as it is able to remove the active oxygen in our body that is known to be the cause of many types of chronic diseases. Molecular hydrogen also has anti-inflammatory effect besides its antioxidant properties. Inflammation is a silent killer that caused many chronic diseases and H2 has been proven to reduce inflammatory processes in the brain, in the cardiovascular system and even for patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Anova Health and many of its practitioners have become big fans of the benefits of molecular hydrogen as an anti-oxidant. H2 has many advantages over most other anti-oxidants when it comes to reducing the aging of cells and tissues. Later in this article we will highlight our favorite products that deliver the most cost efficient sources of H2 available today.
Hydrogen gas has been proven to achieve what most anti-oxidants can’t and that is to enter the mitochondria and neutralize ROS (reactive oxidative species). H2 or molecular hydrogen appears to be a good way to overcome the destructive effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) because of its ability to enter the mitochondria fairly easily. H2 decreases the hydroxyl radical while it does not react with other types of beneficial ROS species including superoxide, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and nitric oxide (NO)3. This is very important because H2O2 and NO have some roles as secondary messengers during cell growth and differentiation.
Recent Studies on Oxidative Stress
The potential for H2 to improve mitochondrial function is optimistic news for the many people who suffer from mitochondrial dysfunction
A paper published early this year proposed the use of hydrogen “to efficiently reduce oxidative stress with potential for the improvement of mitochondrial diseases.” The author included very preliminary evidence of possible improvements in small numbers of patients with mitochondrial disorders treated with hydrogen. As the author noted, the mechanism(s) for hydrogen’s beneficial effects are still unclear.
H2 as a Selective Antioxidant for Cardiovascular health
A paper published in 2008 discussed the beneficial effects of H2 as a selective antioxidant for cardiovascular health. Given the risks everyone faces in regards to cardiovascular health we feel that ingesting enough H2 daily would result in a great long term health benefit.
Oxidative stress is implicated in atherogenesis; however most clinical trials with dietary antioxidants failed to show marked success in preventing atherosclerotic diseases. We have found that hydrogen (dihydrogen; H2) acts as an effective antioxidant to reduce oxidative stress [I. Ohsawa, M. Ishikawa, K. Takahashi, M. Watanabe, K. Nishimaki, K. Yamagata, K. Katsura, Y. Katayama, S, Asoh, S. Ohta, Hydrogen acts as a therapeutic antioxidant by selectively reducing cytotoxic oxygen radicals, Nat. Med. 13 (2007) 688–694]. Here, we investigated whether drinking H2-dissolved water at a saturated level (H2–water) ad libitum prevents arteriosclerosis using an apolipoprotein E knockout mouse (apoE_/_), a model of the spontaneous development of atherosclerosis. ApoE_/_ mice drank H2–water ad libitum from 2 to 6 month old throughout the whole period. Atherosclerotic lesions were significantly reduced by ad libitum drink- ing of H2–water (p = 0.0069) as judged by Oil-Red-O staining series of sections of aorta. The oxidative stress level of aorta was decreased. Accumulation of macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions was confirmed. Thus, consumption of H2-dissolved water has the potential to prevent arteriosclerosis2.
H2 Studies on Chemotherapy Side Effects
Two new research reports have found that hydrogen-rich water can reduce the side-effects of cancer treatment using chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy, hence giving cancer patients a higher chance of responding well to cancer treatments and hence their chances of cancer recovery. The first study by researchers (Naomi Nakashima-Kamimura · Takashi Mori · Ikuroh Ohsawa · Sadamitsu Asoh · Shigeo Ohta) showed that hydrogen water can reduce or mitigate the negative sides effects of Cisplatin, a widely used anti-cancer drug in the treatment of a wide range of tumors. A second study by another group of researchers on 49 cancer patients receiving radiotherapy for liver tumors showed that the drinking of hydrogen-rich water reduces the biological reaction to radiation-induced oxidative stress without compromising anti-tumor effects.
The conclusion from this study is that the daily consumption of hydrogen-rich water can be a therapeutic strategy for improving QOL after radiation exposure without compromising anti-tumor effects. The results showed that the consumption of hydrogen-rich water for 6 weeks reduced reactive oxygen metabolites in the blood and maintained blood oxidation potential. QOL scores during radiotherapy were significantly improved in patients treated with hydrogen-rich water compared to patients receiving placebo water. There was no difference
Recent Studies on Neuroprotective Action
It would be impossible to cover ALL of the many studies covering molecular hydrogen in this article but I would like to highlight the studies concerning H2 and Grehlin production as a neuroprotective agent.
A paper published in 2013 revealed the possible mechanisms behind H2 drinking water and the increase in brain Grehlin levels which has brain protectant properties:
The therapeutic potential of molecular hydrogen (H2) is emerging in a number of human diseases and in
their animal models, including in particular Parkinson’s disease (PD). H2 supplementation of drinking
water has been shown to exert disease-modifying effects in PD patients and neuroprotective effects in
experimental PD model mice. However,H2 supplementation does not result in detectable changes in striatal H2 levels, indicating an indirect effect. Here we show that H2 supplementation increases gastric expression of mRNA encoding ghrelin, a growth hormone secretagogue, and ghrelin secretion, which are antagonized by the b1-adrenoceptor blocker, atenolol. Strikingly, the neuroprotective effect of H2 water was abolished by either administration of the ghrelin receptor-antagonist, D-Lys3 GHRP-6, or atenolol. Thus, the neuroprotective effect of H2 in PD is mediated by enhanced production of ghrelin. Our findings point to potential, novel strategies for ameliorating pathophysiology in which a protective effect of H2 supplementation has been demonstrated (6).
In 2012 a landmark white paper “Molecular Hydrogen as an Emerging Therapeutic Medical Gas for Neurodegenerative and Other Diseases” by Kinjo Ohno et al. cites 63 studies27.
Effects of molecular hydrogen on various diseases have been documented for 63 disease models and human diseases in the past four and a half years. Most studies have been performed on rodents including two models of Parkinson’s disease and three models of Alzheimer’s disease. Prominent effects are observed especially in oxidative stress-mediated diseases including neonatal cerebral hypoxia; Parkinson’s disease; ischemia/reperfusion of spinal cord, heart, lung, liver, kidney, and intestine; transplantation of lung, heart, kidney, and intestine. Six human diseases have been studied to date: diabetes mellitus type 2, metabolic syndrome, hemodialysis, inflammatory and mitochondrial myopathies, brain stem infarction, and radiation-induced adverse effects. Two enigmas, however, remain to be solved. First, no dose-response effect is observed. Rodents and humans are able to take a small amount of hydrogen by drinking hydrogen-rich water, but marked effects are observed. Second, intestinal bacteria in humans and rodents produce a large amount of hydrogen, but an addition of a small amount of hydrogen exhibits marked effects. Further studies are required to elucidate molecular bases of prominent hydrogen effects and to determine the optimal frequency, amount, and method of hydrogen administration for each human disease.
How Can YOU Benefit from Molecular Hydrogen?
Synergy Sciences has developed the most advanced system for manufacturing H2 in drinking water right from your kitchen faucet in the all-new 9 Plate ECH2O water ionizer. The ECH2O 9 Incorporates world-wide patented technology specifically designed to maximize H2 production. Patented self-cleaning plate technology sets the ECHO apart from any other unit in the market as scaling inhibits H2 production. The ECHO 9 boasts a very robust 9 stage filtration system, forever warranty and professionally installed modern attractive counter top or below counter stainless units.
For on the go H2 production in bottled water the recently released ECH2O H2 water drops provide a convenient affordable and great tasting solution in a convenient tube dispenser.
For more information on the amazing ECH2O technologies and financing options please call us at 888-309-5222
References
1. Ohta. Molecular hydrogen is a novel antioxidant to efficiently reduce oxidative stress with potential for the improvement of mitochondrial diseases. Biochim Biophys Acta1820:586-94Ohsawa et al., Consumption of hydrogen water prevents atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein …, Biochem Biophys. Res. Commun. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2008.10.156
2. Ohsawa et al. Hydrogen acts as a therapeutic antioxidant by selectively reducing cytotoxic oxygen radicals, Nat Med 13(6):688-94 (2007).
3. Ohta. Recent progress toward hydrogen medicine: potential of molecular hydrogen for preventive and therapeutic applications. Curr Pharm Des 17:2241-52 (2011).
4. Hanaoka et al. Molecular hydrogen protects chondrocytes from oxidative stress and indirectly alters gene expressions through reducing peroxynitrite derived from nitric oxide. Med Gas Res 1:18-26 (2011).
5. Hong et al. Hydrogen as a selective antioxidant: a review of clinical and experimental studies. J Int Med Res 38:1893-1903 (2010).
6. Matsumoto, A. et al.Oral ‘hydrogen water’ induces neuroprotective ghrelin secretion in mice. Sci. Rep. 3, 3273; DOI:10.1038/srep03273 (2013).
7. 5. Nagata et al. Consumption of molecular hydrogen prevents the stress-induced impairments in hippocampus-dependent learning tasks during chronic physical restraint in mice. Neuropsychopharmacology 34:501-8 (2009).
8. Hayashida et al. Inhalation of hydrogen gas reduces infarct size in the rat model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 373:30-5 (2008).
9. Sun et al. Hydrogen-rich saline protects myocardium against ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats. Exp Biol Med 234:1212-9 (2009).
10. Ndengele et al. Cyclooxygenases 1 and 2 contribute to peroxynitrite-mediated inflammatory pain hypersensitivity. FASEB J 22:3154-64 (2008).
11. Yeo et al. Antinociceptive effect of CNS peroxynitrite scavenger in a mouse model of orofacial pain. Exp Brain Res 184(3):435-8 (2009).
12. Janes et al. Anti-superoxide and anti-peroxynitrite strategies in pain suppression.Biochim Biophys Acta [online computer file] 1822:815-21 (2012).
13. Salvemini et al. Roles of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in pain. Free Radic Biol Med 51:951-66 (2011).
14. Ohsawa et al. Consumption of hydrogen water prevents atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E knockout mice. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 377:1195-8 (2008).
15. Gu et al. Drinking hydrogen water ameliorated cognitive impairment in senescence-accelerated mice. J Clin Biochem Nutr 46:269-76 (2010).
16. Liu et al. Hydrogen saline offers neuroprotection by reducing oxidative stress in a focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rat model. Med Gas Res 1:15-24 (2011).
17. Zheng et al. Hydrogen-rich saline protects against intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats. Free Radic Res 43(5):478-84 (2009).
18. Fukuda et al. Inhalation of hydrogen gas suppresses hepatic injury caused by ischemia/reperfusion through reducing oxidative stress. Biochem Biophys Res Commun361:670-4 (2007).
19. Nakao et al. Effectiveness of hydrogen rich water on antioxidant status of subjects with potential metabolic syndrome—an open label pilot study. J Clin Biochem Nutr46:140-9 (2010).
20. Kajiyama et al. Supplementation of hydrogen-rich water improves lipid and glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. Nutr Res28:137-43 (2008).
21. Fujita et al. Hydrogen in drinking water reduces dopaminergic neuronal loss in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.PLoS One 4(9):e7247 (2009).
22. Fujita et al. Therapeutic effects of hydrogen in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsons Dis 2011:307875-83 (2011).
23. Fu et al. Molecular hydrogen is protective against 6-hydroxydopamine-induced nigrostriatal degeneration in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease. Neurosci Lett 453:81-5 (2009).
24. Qian et al. Radioprotective effect of hydrogen in cultured cells and mice. Free Radic Res 44(3):275-82 (2010).
25. Qian et al. The potential cardioprotective effects of hydrogen in irradiated mice. J Radiat Res 51:741-7 (2010).
26. Kinji Ohno,Mikako Ito,Masatoshi Ichihara, andMasafumi Ito Molecular Hydrogen as an Emerging Therapeutic Medical Gas for Neurodegenerative and Other Diseases Hindawi Publishing Corporation Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity Volume 2012, Article ID 353152, 11 pages doi:10.1155/2012/353152
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