Molecular hydrogen has amazing properties in the fight against many diseases. Commonly known properties of molecular hydrogen include anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic and anti-allergic properties.

The first research identifying molecular hydrogen as a therapeutic gas was conducted in 2007. After it was identified as a medical gas, a lot of research was conducted to see its effects on various diseases. Some of them are cancers, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, lung and cardiovascular diseases and many more. In this article, let us see how hydrogen gas helps in diabetes diseases.

What is diabetes and how does it develop?

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. It can lead to many other diseases like cardiovascular diseases. Almost every organ of the patient can be damaged by elevated blood glucose levels, such as the eyes, nerves, kidneys, heart and others. In advanced stages, it can lead to death. Diabetes can predispose to infections by weakening immunity. This can lead to poor wound healing, resulting in loss of limbs.

So what causes diabetes?

There are several types of diabetes, but two are the most common: In type 1 diabetes, there is a loss of the pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin. This is because insulin is the only hormone that lowers blood sugar levels. The loss of beta cells leads to uncontrollable blood sugar levels. These patients need lifelong insulin substitution. On the other hand, type 2 diabetes is the most common type of all. It is thought to be caused by a combination of genetics and environmental factors. In this type, insulin production is actually increased in the early stages. However, the peripheral tissues in the body that absorb glucose for metabolism do not respond to insulin. This resistance occurs because the receptors become insensitive to insulin. They can be treated with oral medications, but may need insulin later because the beta cells can lose their ability to produce insulin.

Diabetes is associated with many other diseases.

When it is associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and elevated uric acid levels, it can be called metabolic syndrome. When all these abnormalities occur, the person has a high risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

How does molecular hydrogen help diabetes patients?

Molecular hydrogen is the smallest gas molecule. It can therefore diffuse easily in the body and reach intracellular organelles to exert its effects. Hydrogen, as mentioned earlier, has been used in the treatment of many diseases and scientists are still discovering new applications every day. Let's see what the scientific basis is for these claims.

Scientists have found that hydrogen can protect beta cells from damage in type 1 diabetes and that it can act similarly to insulin.

In a mouse model, hydrogen promoted glucose uptake into cells via translocation of the glucose transport protein Glut4 by activating specific kinases. Hydrogen significantly increased the expression of Glut4 in the skeletal muscle membrane and markedly improved glycaemic control in type 1 diabetic mice after chronic intraperitoneal and oral administration. But long-term oral administration of hydrogen had the least effect on the obese. The study shows that hydrogen exerts similar metabolic effects to insulin and could be a novel therapeutic alternative to insulin in type 1 diabetes mellitus as it can be administered orally.

There have been two other Asian researches looking at diabetes treatment with molecular hydrogen.

In one study, the scientists used mouse models that suffered from type 2 diabetes and obesity. These mice were given hydrogen-rich water to drink at will every day. They did not change their diet or anything else. After some time, the scientists discovered that these mice had lower glucose levels in their blood than before and their insulin function improved. The effect on hyperglycaemia was similar to dietary restriction. Triglyceride levels were also reduced. There was also a significant reduction in their weight and fat content.

In patients with metabolic syndrome, fatty liver occurs due to the accumulation of free fatty acids. Hydrogen significantly alleviated the fatty liver.

The scientists went on to investigate why this happens at the molecular level. They discovered that hydrogen increases the secretion of a hepatic hormone called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) at the genetic level. This hormone is able to influence fatty acid secretion and also glucose consumption (called gluconeogenesis). Hydrogen also stimulated energy metabolism. The study suggests the potential benefits of hydrogen in improving obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

The same scientists extended their study by using mice fed a high-fat diet. Despite the unhealthy diet, these mice had relatively good triglyceride levels and therefore a longer lifespan. It was found that hydrogen gas can stimulate the PPARα pathway, which regulates the fatty acid metabolism pathway.

A short clinical trial was conducted with 30 type 2 diabetes patients who drank one litre of hydrogen-enriched water for 8 weeks. The patients who consumed hydrogen-rich water showed a reduction in insulin resistance and oxidative stress biomarkers, such as serum concentrations of oxidised LDL (5%, p < 0.05). LDL is the major factor in the development of atherosclerosis. These patients also showed increased levels of adiponectin (2%, p ❮ 0.1), a hormone that inhibits hunger pangs, and extracellular superoxide dismutase (2%, p ❮ 0.05), an endogenous antioxidant enzyme.

Molecular hydrogen as a treatment for diabetic complications

Molecular hydrogen is also helpful in treating complications of diabetes. There are mainly 3 types of complications that occur in diabetes: Retinopathy which affects the eyes, Nephropathy which affects the kidneys and Neuropathy which affects the nerves.

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the most common causes of blindness. It is due to increased oxidative stress, which causes toxicity to the surrounding neurons and results in changes in the blood vessels. Since hydrogen-rich water has both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, scientists tried treating mice suffering from diabetic retinopathy with molecular hydrogen. They were injected with hydrogen-rich saline for a month and their eye changes were studied. The scientists found that oxidative stress was reduced and antioxidant enzyme activity was increased in these mice. Therefore, hydrogen may be considered a valuable treatment option in the management of patients with diabetic retinopathy.

In a similar study using a rat model, the researchers found a decrease in caspase activity, reduced retinal apoptosis and vascular permeability. Hydrogen brine was also able to significantly attenuate the thickening of the retinal parenchyma that resulted from diabetic retinopathy. They also concluded that hydrogen saline may have potentials in the clinical treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetes mellitus can also lead to erectile dysfunction.

This may be due in part to increased oxidative stress. Nitric oxide plays an important role in the physiological process of erection. The enzymes that make it can be disrupted by oxidative stress.

In a study designed to investigate this, diabetic rats were divided into 2 groups and one group received hydrogen-rich saline while the other received normal saline for 8 weeks. The hydrogen group had increased nitric oxide levels due to increased activity of nitric oxide synthase (the synthesising enzyme). This resulted in improved erectile function in these animals, as assessed by measuring intracavernosal pressure (venous system of the penis) after electrostimulation of the corpus cavernosum. Maximum intracavernosal pressure increased significantly after treatment with hydrogen-rich saline compared to untreated diabetic rats. It was concluded that hydrogen may also be useful for erectile dysfunction in diabetic patients.

From all this research, it appears that hydrogen may indeed have a future in diabetes treatment.

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