The Early History of Hydrogen and Other Gases in Respiration and Biological Systems: Revisiting Beddoes, Cavallo, and Davy

In 2007 a paper in Nature Medicine sparked a new wave of interest in the use of molecular hydrogen (H2) for medical treatments. Since then there has been a flurry of papers looking at a range of medical aspects, from neurodegenerative disease to sports injuries. Several methods of application have been developed, including breathing the gas, or making a hydrogen-rich solution that can be ingested, or administered as saline. H2 treatments are deemed to be safe and can be used in agricultural practice as well as in the biomedical arena. However, the first studies to investigate the use of H2 in medicine were carried out by those interested in the use of a range of gases and how this may affect respiration in humans. Beddoes was published in 1793 and Cavallo in 1798, with Davy following shortly after in 1800. With so many papers now appearing on H2 in biological systems, it seems timely, and interesting, to revisit the early papers, to humbly remind us of what these pioneers of respiratory research did.