Molecular Hydrogen Positively Affects Physical and Respiratory Function in Acute Post-COVID-19 Patients: A New Perspective in Rehabilitation

Michal Botek, Jakub Krejčí, Michal Valenta, Andrew McKune, Barbora Sládečková, Petr Konečný, Iva Klimešová and Dalibor Pastucha
Additional contact information
Michal Botek: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Jakub Krejčí: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Michal Valenta: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Andrew McKune: Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UCRISE), University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia
Barbora Sládečková: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Petr Konečný: Faculty of Health Sciences, Palacký University Olomouc, 775 15 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Iva Klimešová: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, 771 11 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Dalibor Pastucha: Clinic of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine, University Hospital Ostrava, 708 52 Ostrava, Czech Republic

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) is potentially a novel therapeutic gas for acute post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients because it has antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptosis, and antifatigue properties. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of 14 days of H 2 inhalation on the respiratory and physical fitness status of acute post-COVID-19 patients. This randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study included 26 males (44 ± 17 years) and 24 females (38 ± 12 years), who performed a 6-min walking test (6 MWT) and pulmonary function test, specifically forced vital capacity (FVC) and expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1). Symptomatic participants were recruited between 21 and 33 days after a positive polymerase chain reaction test. The experiment consisted of H 2 /placebo inhalation, 2 × 60 min/day for 14 days. Results showed that H 2 therapy, compared with placebo, significantly increased 6 MWT distance by 64 ± 39 m, FVC by 0.19 ± 0.24 L, and, in FEV1, by 0.11 ± 0.28 L (all p ≤ 0.025). In conclusion, H 2 inhalation had beneficial health effects in terms of improved physical and respiratory function in acute post-COVID-19 patients. Therefore, H 2 inhalation may represent a safe, effective approach for accelerating early function restoration in post-COVID-19 patients.

Keywords: hydrogen inhalation; COVID-19; health; fatigue; 6-min walking test; pulmonary function; oxygen saturation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/1992/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/4/1992/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:4:p:1992-:d:746408

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().