We present you a translated part of an official medical report published on March 7, 2018. It is titled: "Modulation of the oxidative plasmatic state in gastroesophageal reflux disease by hydrogen water intake: a new biological opinion." The data in the report is based on 3 months of clinical observation of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease. We have kept the bullet points in the structure of the text to make it easier to navigate when reviewing the original English text. At the end of the article we have put a link to the full published medical report.
Abstract
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a clinical condition characterized by reflux/return of gastric juices and acids into the esophagus. A direct correlation between oxidative stress levels (oxidation of the body) and the development of GERD has been established. The study evaluated the potential benefits of hydrogen water intake in improving the condition and level of systemic oxidative stress in patients with GERD. The study was conducted on 84 patients with GERD. They underwent either controlled treatment (medication + plain bottled or tap water) or experimental treatment (medication + water with high hydrogen gas (H2) content) for 3 months. These patients underwent the GERD quality of life questionnaire as well as the reactive oxygen metabolite derivative (d-ROM) test, biological antioxidant potential (BAP) test, superoxide anion, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde tests, oxidative/nitrosative stress test, and antioxidant potential status. A comparative laboratory analysis was performed between the patients' results at the beginning and at the end of the study period. The overall results showed that optimal oxidative balance was restored and acid reflux symptoms were rapidly reduced by daily hydrogen water intake. This shows that the combined treatment with (medication + hydrogen water) improves the cellular redox state, leading to a significant improvement in quality of life. This is confirmed by the correlation analysis between laboratory parameters and GERD symptoms.
3 RESULTS
3.1 Patients
After giving written informed consent, patients were assigned to control treatment (medication + plain water) or experimental treatment (medication + hydrogen water) for 3 months. According to the protocol, each day participants drank 1500 ml of water containing hydrogen gas or 1500 ml of plain water. Of the 84 GERD patients who were enrolled in this study, 44 patients were female and 40 patients were male. The mean age of the patients was 51.95 ± 10.90 years, ranging from 23 to 71 years of age. Patients were randomized into two groups: taking plain water (control group-CG-) and taking hydrogen water (experimental group-EG). Of the 40 patients included in the plain water-drinking group, the mean age was 52.3 ± 10.7 years, 18 patients were male (45%) and 22 patients were female (55%). Of the 44 individuals included in the hydrogen water group, with a mean age of 51.6 ± 11.1 years, 22 patients were male (50%) and 22 patients were female (50%).
3.2 Quality of life
Typical symptoms of GERD include heartburn and regurgitation, which occur both at night, often waking the patient from sleep, and during the day, often during and after meals. This has a major impact on patients' quality of life. At 3-month follow-up, statistical analysis showed that the mean scores improved significantly in the patients taking hydrogen water compared to the group drinking plain water. In summary: treatment with hydrogen water + medication, for 3 months, gives significantly better symptom control than treatment with medication alone. Finally, in our study, 75% of patients surveyed in a questionnaire reported a better level of satisfaction. Taken together, the results suggest that there is a significant increase in quality of life at 3 months after supplementation with hydrogen water compared to baseline.
3.3 Effect of hydrogen water on oxidative stress level in patients with GERD
Inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress have been found to be directly involved in the development and progression of GERD. Our results confirmed that patients affected by GERD had higher levels of systemic nitrosative and oxidative stress at baseline in the study. Our data are consistent with Wetscher et al35 who observed that free radicals/reactive oxygen species are involved in the pathogenesis of reflux esophagitis. After hydrogen water treatment, the balance between ROS and antioxidant defenses was found to gradually return to its normal range. In fact, a follow-up visit 3 months after the end of treatment revealed a mean decrease in the d-ROM test value and a mean increase in the BAP test value. ANOVA test for repeated measures showed a significant difference for the nitric oxide level (P = .025) and the BAP test (P < .001) between the two groups. Nitric oxide levels were significantly reduced in the group drinking hydrogen water compared with the patients drinking plain water (57.2 ± 12.29 vs 41.1 ± 14.9; P-value <.001). These data are supported by the remarkable increase in antioxidant protection in patients taking H2 water compared with the other group (798.1 ± 339.3 vs. 1796.7 ± 467.2; P-value <.001). Significant improvement was found over the period for all laboratory parameters. These values indicate a positive modulation of the prooxidant/antioxidant balance with a reduction in oxidative damage in GERD patients. In addition, we analyzed the severity of oxidative stress and impaired antioxidant protection. After 3 months of treatment, no changes in antioxidant protection were observed in the group drinking plain water. Remarkably, in the group taking hydrogen water, 23.3% of patients fell within the optimal range of antioxidant protection, and 53.5% had an optimal value of plasma oxidative stress.
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