Does Methylene Blue Really Have Wellness Benefits Or Will It Just Leave You With The Blues? | Antiviral

A week earlier he was sworn successful arsenic caput of nan US Department of Health and Human Services successful February, a video of anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr went viral.

In it, Kennedy, who has often promoted debunked wellness claims, is seen squirting inky bluish liquid into a drinking glass. The constituent was wide speculated to beryllium a dye called methylene blue, though Kennedy has not publically commented connected it.

The cloth dye is besides taken by nan likes of Joe Rogan – who successful a podcast weeks later said that “RFK Jr told maine astir it” – and Bryan Johnson, nan sludge-eating American task capitalist who has sunk millions into trying to forestall nan (famously) inevitable process of death.

So what is methylene bluish and is location immoderate benchmark grounds that it’s bully for your health?

What is methylene blue?

Methylene bluish is simply a synthetic textile dye, noted for its expertise to hindrance good to fabrics. (Kennedy, ironically, wants nan US nutrient manufacture to stop utilizing artificial dyes.)

The constituent has gained fame successful wellness circles, pinch a laundry database of claimed benefits, including that it boosts cognition, increases power levels, has anti-ageing effects, relieves accent and has antioxidant effects. On TikTok, influencers flick retired bluish tongues and dropper nan cobalt colourant consecutive into their mouths.

But ingestion of nan dye for unapproved uses carries superior risks.

Methylene bluish was first synthesised successful nan precocious 19th century. Dark greenish arsenic a powder and heavy bluish erstwhile dissolved successful water, nan synthetic dye was soon discovered to termination nan parasite that causes malaria.

It became 1 of nan first afloat synthetic narcotics utilized successful medicine, and was utilized wide successful nan 2nd world warfare erstwhile quinine – nan modular antimalarial curen astatine nan clip – was successful short supply.

“The troops weren’t impressed arsenic it turned their urine blue,” says Dr Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist astatine nan University of Adelaide. “This is 1 of nan commonest reported adverse effects of methylene bluish moreover today.”

Though it is now seldom utilized for malaria, methylene bluish is considered by nan World Health Organization arsenic an basal medicine. It’s chiefly utilized to dainty methaemoglobinemia, a humor upset successful which location is an excess of methaemoglobin – a shape of haemoglobin that cannot transportation oxygen – successful nan blood.

Methylene bluish has redox properties, meaning it tin summation and springiness up electrons, and done a chemic guidance it restores haemoglobin to its functional form. It is besides sometime utilized to dainty nan effects of c monoxide and cyanide poisoning.

“I utilized methylene bluish erstwhile I did my biochemistry major, because it’s 1 of nan oldest dyes … for staining DNA and each sorts of biologic molecules,” Dr Slade Matthews, a elder teacher successful medicine science astatine nan University of Sydney, says. “It’s been utilized arsenic a dye successful surgery, but there’s been rather a batch of reported toxicity.”

Does methylene bluish person wellness benefits?

Much of nan wellness hype astir methylene bluish has origins successful studies conducted successful animals arsenic good arsenic successful vitro – successful cells tested successful laboratory settings – and nan Victorian Poisons Centre warns: “There is nary existent grounds that methylene bluish improves wellness aliases encephalon usability successful patient individuals.”

Methylene bluish tin transverse into nan encephalon done a protective membrane known arsenic nan blood-brain barrier. In rodents, studies suggest that it tin amended representation and forestall degeneration successful conditions that mimic Alzheimer’s, but Musgrave notes it has “largely grounded successful quality objective tests for curen of Alzheimer’s disease”.

As an antioxidant, he notes that “while location are immoderate promising results successful insubstantial culture, location is presently nary grounds successful humans that it has important antiageing effects”.

Those trading methylene bluish and different compounds marketed to boost encephalon usability often make vague claims that are difficult to beryllium aliases refute, Matthews says. “To beryllium that a supplier is going to make you smarter – it’s conscionable really difficult. That’s why they spell for claims for illustration that; they don’t opportunity that it produces immoderate effect that’s easy measurable.”

What are nan wellness risks associated pinch methylene blue?

Across Australia, poisons accusation centres person noted an summation successful calls arsenic a consequence of methylene bluish ingestion, pinch immoderate patients processing important symptoms.

The Western Australia Poisons Information Centre has recorded 9 calls this year, compared pinch 1 telephone a twelvemonth complete nan erstwhile 2 years. Centres successful Queensland and Victoria person already received much calls this twelvemonth (eight successful some states) arsenic a consequence of methylene bluish vulnerability than nan erstwhile 4 years combined.

“Most of these exposures look to beryllium linked to nan ingestion of methylene bluish for unapproved wellness purposes,” Carol Wylie, head of nan Queensland Poisons Information Centre, says. “Consuming unregistered aliases unapproved methylene bluish tin origin superior side-effects including nausea, vomiting, accelerated bosom rate, dizziness, confusion, and tegument discoloration.”

In September, nan medicines regulator issued a safety advisory, noting an summation successful importation and unregistered usage of methylene blue, and informing that nan dye tin interact pinch narcotics specified arsenic serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a communal type of antidepressant.

Matthews has seen methylene bluish sold online astatine dosages that, successful group taking SSRIs, tin origin serotonin syndrome – a perchance fatal information that tin origin musculus spasms, disorder and agitation.

And contempt its usage arsenic a curen for methaemoglobinemia, he points retired that astatine precocious doses nan dye tin paradoxically origin nan condition.

In patient people, it besides commonly results successful symptom successful nan extremities, nausea, excessive sweating, and changes successful sensation and tegument colour.

Given nan evidence, wellness influencers portion nan dye astatine their ain peril – nan remainder of america must resign ourselves to highlighting its risks until we’re bluish successful nan face.

• Donna Lu is an adjunct editor, climate, situation and subject astatine Guardian Australia

• Antiviral is simply a fortnightly file that interrogates nan grounds down nan wellness headlines and factchecks celebrated wellness claims