It is well known that exercise is the key element in sports to maintain physical strength. Intense sports may cause muscular injuries and fatigue.
Muscle damage or injuries are mostly attributed to an increase in exercise-induced oxidative stress that causes a decline in skeletal function. Intensive endurance exercises can lead to an upsurge in oxygen consumption, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and white blood cell activation. These physical exercise-related issues cause a decrease in sportsman’s performance and initiate other health problems.
Considering all these factors, sports science needs an effective and easy-to-use medicine or therapeutic regimen to combat athletes’ health issues. Herein, molecular hydrogen is recommended because of its radical scavenging, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Molecular hydrogen in Sports medicine:
Molecular hydrogen (H2) is a newly emerged treatment strategy that is found effective against several diseases and is also widely adopted by healthy people.
Hydrogen, a therapeutic gas with no taste and odor offers several biological and therapeutic effects on numerous illnesses ranging from acute illness involving ischemia-reperfusion injury to chronic diseases namely neurodegenerative, rheumatoid arthritis, and metabolic diseases. Besides this, hydrogen is non-toxic and safe gas for therapeutic even at high concentrations. It quickly diffuses into tissues, crosses different tissue barriers i.e., the blood-brain barrier, and penetrates several organelles.
H2 also impedes reactive oxygen species (ROS) frequently produced in living systems, a characteristic that contributes to its antioxidant potential. Thus, it is recommended for the treatment of diseases linked to oxidative stress . Likewise, hydrogen is suggested as sports medicine because athletes or sportsmen deal with sports injuries i.e., muscle damage, often due to extensive oxidative stress and inflammation caused by intense exercises, and they opt for maintaining physical fitness.
The significance of hydrogen gas utilization in sports is mainly attributed to its antioxidant effect. Because intensive and exhaustive physical exercise causes the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals that facilitate tissue damage . Therefore, using an effective antioxidant agent can help in diminishing oxidative and other cellular stresses. Moreover, it can relieve ROS-related disorders such as inflammation, fatigue, and micro-injury and thus help improve their fitness.
Hydrogen gas therapy is suggested as an effective and innovative therapeutic strategy for sports injuries and exercise-induced oxidative stress with an adding potential for improving exercise performance in athletes
Molecular hydrogen for exercise-induced oxidative stress
Exercise-induced excessive production of reactive oxygen species and decreased antioxidant defense systems play a crucial role in skeletal muscle contractile dysfunction that leads to fatigue and muscle weakness. Considering this, hydrogen is suggested as the most promising candidate for athletes suffering from damaging oxidative stress due to its low molecular weight and high tissue penetrating ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species.
Also, H2 can diffuse quickly into tissue and scavenge toxic ROS because of its low molecular weight making it a model candidate for athletes suffering from harmful oxidative stress.
Hydrogen mitigates exercise-induced inflammation
Physical exercise is reported to induce inflammation that may either be beneficial in the case of regular exercise or be harmful when intense exercise is performed by individuals. Molecular hydrogen gas has emerged as a powerful therapeutic tool with potent anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and antioxidant properties, proven against several physiological conditions.
Many studies have explored the positive anti-inflammatory effects of hydrogen gas in animal models. A recent study has investigated the therapeutic potential of molecular hydrogen gas against acute exercise-generated inflammation in the hippocampus of rats. Hippocampus is the part of the brain, most sensitive to inflammation. In this experiment, rats were administered two gas formulations: one with hydrogen (2%) and the other without hydrogen gas, while running on a sealed treadmill. The hippocampal samples were collected for analysis after 3 hours of exercise. The results showed that hydrogen gas significantly reduced exercise induced hippocampal inflammation in rats. Detailed analysis revealed that hydrogen declined the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) and increased anti-inflammatory proteins (IL-10), thus exhibiting a potent anti-inflammatory effect.
Like this, molecular hydrogen’s anti-inflammatory effect was investigated to relieve inflammation induced by acute physical exercise. Rats ran on a closed treadmill with 80% of their highest running velocity while inhaling 2% hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas was found to reduce inflammation produced through exercise. Low levels of inflammatory cytokines were detected in the plasma of the experimental group (H2) compared to the control.
Furthermore, attenuation of cellular and oxidative stress was observed in molecular hydrogen-administered rats. Besides these, the putative anti-inflammatory role of hydrogen gas against physiological conditions i.e., physical exercise is still not well elucidated. However, these studies show that hydrogen has a strong potential to mitigate inflammation and treat related health conditions. Further, it can be studied in clinical settings to support its use as a medicine in sports.
Molecular hydrogen for sports injuries
Intense and exhaustive physical exercises lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, inflammation, and apoptosis, particularly in inexperienced individuals. This exercise-induced factors then contribute to skeletal muscle damage and many other sports injuries. This may cause decrement in their performance and affect their career. Therefore, they need a regular medicine or supplement that can alleviate the harmful effects of exercise and help in effective recovery from injuries.
Hydrogen gas administration has been shown to ameliorate muscle injuries due to its promising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic activities. Recently, a research used hydrogen gas inhalation therapy to relieve exercise induced skeletal muscle injury.
In addition, it also alleviated inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis and thus exerted protective effects against muscle damage caused by intense exercise . Molecular hydrogen therapy is reported to reduce the delayed onset muscle soreness DOMS after eccentric exercises. This shows hydrogen therapy can exert protective effects and prevent and heal muscle injuries in athletes.
Hydrogen therapy improves athlete’s performance
Besides combating, oxidative stress, inflammation, and muscle damage, molecular hydrogen is reported to enhance the endurance and overall performance of athletes. Many studies have been designed and carried out to explore hydrogen as an effective sports medicine.
Studies indicate that molecular hydrogen therapy can help athletes maintain and increase their performance. Such as, research showed that pre-exercise administration of molecular hydrogen can alleviate performance decline during repeated sprints in soccer players by diminishing fatigue.
In addition, another randomized, double-blind, pilot scale study investigated the effect of hydrogen inhalation on serum hormone levels, inflammation profiles, and exercise performance results of young men and women. Hydrogen gas was administered for seven days. The results showed the ergogenic properties of hydrogen gas in healthy individuals. It exhibited significant enhancement in their physical performances.
Interestingly, the administration of molecular hydrogen in judo athletes is reported to reduce post-exercise heart rate and blunt lactate response during the recovery period. Additionally, pre-exercise hydrogen therapy is also shown to mitigate exercise induced acidosis in female athletes.
Furthermore, molecular hydrogen exerts a cytoprotective effect on the body to improve exercise performance. A study conducted on eight physically active men suggested that hydrogen inhalation during the recovery period after exercise may ameliorate overall exercise performance by diminishing oxidative stress.
All these palpable studies indicate the robust potential of molecular hydrogen as an effective treatment or medicine in sports.
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