Hydrogen effective in sudden deafness

In the past, many studies have confirmed that hydrogen from Hydrogen Therapy Generator can effectively treat deafness (hearing loss). However, most of the studies used animal experiments. The paper research to be introduced today is from a human clinical experiment at Ehime University School of Medicine in Japan. So, this research is very meaningful, so let’s continue reading!

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare,Idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss,(abbreviation：ISSNHL)is defined as a hearing loss of more than 30 decibels at three consecutive sound frequencies within three days.It may be accompanied by symptoms such as tinnitus, ear fullness, headache, and dizziness. The age of onset is mostly between 40 and 60 years old, with an equal number of men and women. It usually only occurs in one ear, and rarely occurs in both ears at the same time. Up to now, the cause of sudden deafness is still not very clear. Common ones may be viral infection or drastic changes in climate and temperature, which cause the blood circulation in the ear to decrease and the blood supply to be insufficient. Therefore, sudden deafness is also common. It is called "ear stroke".

According to a 2014 epidemiological statistics, on average, 60.9 out of every 100,000 people in Japan suffer from this disease. At present, there are many treatments for sudden deafness, including corticosteroids, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Vasodilators, intratympanic steroid injections, etc. However, despite so many methods to treat it, the prognosis of sudden deafness is still very unsatisfactory at this stage. About 1/3 of patients still cannot recover after receiving treatment. Therefore, medical staff have always been trying to find new treatment methods.

A double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial of hydrogen inhalation from Pure Water Electrolysis Hydrogen Inhalation Machine for the treatment ofISSNHL. Sudden deafness, whose full name isIdiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss, is a disease that lacks ideal clinical treatments.There have been many animal experiments ofHydrogen’s effect on hearing . Here is a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial of using hydrogen gas to treat idiopathic sudden sensorineural deafness. The research results suggest that hydrogen has a therapeutic effect on sudden deafness.

Background: In animal studies, hydrogen from Hydrogen Application Machine has been reported to be effective against hearing loss from a variety of causes. However, no studies have examined the therapeutic effects of hydrogen on hearing loss in humans. Therefore, we conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial to investigate whether hydrogen is effective in treating ISSNHL.

Methods: We conducted this double-blind randomized controlled trial at six hospitals. The study protocol and trial registration have been published in the Japanese Registry of Clinical Trials (jRCT, number jRCTs06119004). We randomly divided ISSNHL patients into two groups, one receiving hydrogen treatment (H2 group) and the other receiving air as a placebo (control group). Hydrogen gas is administered by inhalation in combination with systemic glucocorticoids and prostaglandin E1. The primary outcomes were hearing thresholds and changes in hearing thresholds three months after treatment. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of patients with a favorable prognosis (complete recovery or significant improvement).

Results: A total of 65 ISSNHL patients were included in this study (31 in the H2 group and 34 in the control group). Hearing thresholds three months after treatment were not significantly different between the two groups; 39.0 dB (95% confidence interval [CI]: 28.7-49.3) in the H2 group and 49.5 dB (95% CI: 40.3-58.7) in the control group ). However, the change in hearing thresholds three months after treatment was 32.7 dB (95% CI: 24.2-41.3) in the H2 group and 24.2 dB (95% CI: 18.1-30.3) in the control group. Therefore, the hearing threshold changes of the H2 group were significantly better than those of the control group (P = 0.048). However, no adverse reactions due toinhalinghydrogen have been reported.

Figure: There is a significant difference in the proportion of complete recovery (red) between the two groups, and the effect of hydrogen treatment is obvious.
Conclusion: This is the first study to examine the therapeutic effect of hydrogen on ISSNHL in humans. The results suggest that hydrogen therapy may be effective in the treatment of ISSNHL.

Okada M, Ogawa H, Takagi T, Nishihara E, Yoshida T, Hyodo J, Shinomori Y, Honda N, Fujiwara T, Teraoka M, Yamada H, Hirano SI, Hato N. A double-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial of hydrogen inhalation therapy for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Front Neurosci.