There seems to be a trend where it is assumed that drinking high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide can be a health benefit. The University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter reports that high concentrations can cause serious internal damage.
Despite claims, this acidic liquid won’t cure arthritis, cancer, or anything else. It won’t detoxify the body. Proponents suggest diluting highly concentrated “food grade” hydrogen peroxide (usually 35 percent) and drinking small amounts of the weaker (usually 3 to 5 percent) solution. Such a low concentration is not corrosive, but it is an irritant and can cause vomiting and bloating. Some people consume higher concentrations, usually accidentally, mistaking it for water, but sometimes deliberately, with disastrous results.
More then 7,000 cases of such poisoning were reported to the United States Poison Control Centers in 2015. A study in the Annuals of Emergency Medicine last year described the outcomes of nearly 300 cases of poisoning by high concentration hydrogen peroxide (higher than 10 percent) in the United States. Ranging from internal burns, seizures, lung damage, heart attack, and neurological problems stroke and in some cases even death.
Dr. Benjamin Hatten, assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine said, “In addition to the lack of scientific evidence of benefit, ingestion of high concentrations peroxide can be life-threatening. This product is much more dangerous than the household hydrogen peroxide that comes in a brown bottle and is used by the public to clean wounds.” Dr. Hatten conducted this research while at Oregon Health and Science University. While this report comes from an article published in February of 2017, the investigation looked at both the accidental and intentional consumption of industrial-concentration peroxide in formulations of 10 percent of more. That is different from the low-concentration (3 to 5 percent) hydrogen peroxide liquid that people find in drug stores to safely treat external wounds and for cosmetic purposes.
The study included 10 years of information from 2001 and 2011. The information was from the U.S. National Poison Data System and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC).
In that time frame, nearly 300 cases of high-concentration peroxide poisoning were identified.
Just under 14 percent of the patients experienced a partial or total blockage of blood flow to the heart (an embolism). Almost 7 percent either died following peroxide ingestion or suffered long-term disability. Both figures, said Hatten, were “much higher than anyone expected.” Problems occurred as long as 25 hours following peroxide ingestion, the study showed.
People who drank high concentrations are not rare. Dr. Eric Lavonas, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, said “When you consider that drinking a tablespoon of 35 percent ‘food grade’ (industrial) hydrogen peroxide suddenly releases more than 1.5 quarts of gas into the stomach, it is not surprising that there is going to be some serious injuries.”
The sudden release of a large amount of gas makes the stomach stretch. Eventually, the stomach can’t stretch anymore and the person who ingested the peroxide can’t belch fast enough, but the gas has to go somewhere. Sometimes the stomach ruptures. More commonly, the gas enters the arteries and veins, he said.
“Gas bubbles in a liquid rise, and when they get to a small blood vessel, the vessel gets blocked. Because of gravity, this means the most common place to see damage is the brain. The bubbles themselves don’t last very long. but the stroke can be permanent.” Lavonas explained.
For some reason it is suppose to boost health, but Minnesota doctors caution that this alternative health remedy can send you or a loved one to the emergency room. The theory that this creates health benefits seems to come from taking 3 drops of concentrated peroxide and dissolve it in about eight ounces of water and take it three times a day. Dr. Ann Arens, a medical toxicologist at the Minnesota Poison Control Symptom says “there are many websites and YouTube videos promoting this. Dr Arens goes on to say, that there is no science behind any of it being beneficial. There is no benefit of doing it and it really opens you up to a lot of potential harm.”
The hydrogen peroxide in these cases consumed stronger than the 3 to 5 percent concentration usually found in the drug store. In these cases, the bottle is labeled “food grade quality.” And it contains 35 percent hydrogen peroxide. “It burns as soon as you drink it,” Arens said.
Consuming the liquid can burn holes in the esophagus and stomach, and can create oxygen bubbles that can be released in the blood stream. When that happens, explained Dr. Stephen Hendriksen, an emergency medicine doctor at HCMS, “the bubbles can travel to the brain and cause seizures and stroke-like symptoms.”
Where the trend started is yet to be known.
