Molecular hydrogen heals fractures in old mice

What's the news: A new way to deliver molecular hydrogen reduces age-related inflammation and promotes bone healing in mice.

Why should we believe it: This news is based on a new study published a few weeks ago by scientists in China. The scientists designed a new, surgically inserted "scaffold" to release molecular hydrogen inside the body over the course of a week.

They tested this approach in aged mice with bone fractures. Results:

• A decrease in the "senescence environment," the stew of inflammatory chemicals that prevent healing and regeneration as we age

• Faster and more thorough bone healing

• Greater growth of new bone.

Why this is a big deal: It's been known for a while that molecular hydrogen is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. However, the main ways of getting molecular hydrogen into the body (inhaling hydrogen gas or drinking hydrogen-rich water) disperse quickly and cannot target a specific area of the body. This new way of delivering molecular hydrogen is both more powerful and more precise.

And this intervention has promise beyond bone healing. As one of the authors of the above study put it, "We believe that continuous hydrogen supply will be a universal anti-aging technology that can treat various aging-related diseases, including preventing and treating diseases like Alzheimer’s."

So what's next: More research, of course, specifically to create a new scaffold that would release molecular hydrogen in the body for an even longer period of time. While we wait for that research, if you'd like to learn more about the promise of hydrogen therapy, this recent article gives a good overview.