Radical medicine

Vladimir Voeikov

Mention hydrogen peroxide and many people would immediately think of that most famous of synthetic blondes, Marilyn Monroe, but Russian scientists have found that a vapor spray of low concentration peroxide solution could be used as an inhalant to treat several diseases including acute respiratory distress syndrome, influenza, high blood pressure, asthma, and allergies.

According to Vladimir Voeikov, of the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University, free radicals have been given a bad press. Blamed for various illnesses and aging they are considered only damaging to biochemical systems as they oxidize lipids, damage membranes, and destroy DNA and proteins.

But, Voeikov and his colleagues, Sergei Kondakov, Anatoly Volkov, and Vadim Rosenthal, knowing that oxygen radicals might also be involved in maintaining immune functions, reckon that free radicals maintain practically all living functions. They suppose that the production of highly reactive oxygen radicals is an essential component of metabolism and "dictates the rhythm" of other biochemical reactions.

They have devised an ultrasound hydrogen peroxide vapor inhalator (inhaler?) that allows oxygen radicals to be generated and breathed in. Absorption of oxygen radicals in this way, the team believes, gives a boost to the body's immune system, especially improving recovery from respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and asthma. They add, however, that other disorders such as hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis can also benefit from the radical vapor. The impact of oxygen radicals, they say, is non-specific, which explains why a wide range of medical conditions can respond to the peroxide treatment.