Introduction
Ozone therapy is a form of alternative medicine treatment that purports to increase the amount of oxygen in the body through the introduction of ozone. Various techniques have been suggested, with purported benefits including the treatment of cancer, AIDS, and multiple sclerosis, among others. There is no credible, peer reviewed evidence to support the use of ozone as a type of medical therapy.
Ozone therapy is a unique form of therapy that both heals and detoxifies at the same time. It used to treat a variety of chronic disease including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Lyme disease, chronic hepatitis, herpes, chronic fatigue states, chemical sensitivity, macular degeneration, chronic bladder conditions, colitis, auto-immune diseases, and Crohn’s disease.
What Is Ozone?
The oxygen you breathe is present in the air as a pair of oxygen atoms. This is the most stable form of oxygen, and it’s colorless. Ozone is a blue colored form of oxygen (it’s what makes the sky blue), and unlike regular oxygen, it is composed of three oxygen atoms instead of two. It is the addition of the third oxygen atom that makes ozone “supercharged” oxygen, and gives it all of its remarkable medical properties.
The use of ozone to treat various medical conditions was first developed in Germany in the early 1950’s. Today, medical ozone therapy is common throughout Europe, and its use has gradually been spreading in America over the last 25 years.
Ozone Is Toxic Isn’t It?
Anything, including water and oxygen, is toxic if given in amounts that exceed the body’s capacity to utilize it. Ozone is found naturally in the body. The white cells make it as part of the immune response. Pure medical grade ozone, when it is used according to the established medical guidelines, has a safety record that is unparalleled.
Medical Properties Of Ozone:
Ozone has five properties that account for why it works so well not only for macular degeneration, but also for most other chronic age related conditions as well:
Ozone is a potent regulator of the immune system. This means that when the immune system is overactive (as in auto-immune disease), ozone will calm it down. Conversely, when the immune system is under active as in cancer, AIDS, and chronic infections, ozone will stimulate it. This unique ability of ozone stems from its action on the membranes of white cells that causes them to produce immune related messenger molecules called cytokines. Examples of cytokines are gamma interferon, interleukin-2, colony stimulating factor, and TNF-alpha just to name a few.
Ozone stimulates increased uptake of oxygen by stimulating the enzyme diphosphoglycerate (DPG). DPG enables the release of oxygen from the hemoglobin molecule so that it can be taken up into the cell. In the absence of an adequate amount of DPG, our cells become starved for oxygen. This is a common problem in diabetics.
Ozone improves circulation. It does this by enhancing the flow characteristics of blood as a liquid. This effect enables more of the oxygen carrying hemoglobin to reach the capillaries where ultimately the cells will receive more of the oxygen they require. Many patients with chronic inflammatory conditions have impaired circulation.
Ozone increases antioxidant protection more than any other therapy including vitamin C. Most people with chronic disease have deficient antioxidant defenses.
Ozone is a powerful mitochondrial stimulant. The fundamental underlying cause behind all degenerative disease from diabetes to heart disease to cancer is decreased mitochondrial energy production. Ozone can often correct this problem.
How Is Ozone Used Medically?
Autotherapy is the most common, and in most cases the most effective way ozone is administered. The patient sits in a chair and has from 6-12 ounces of blood removed into a sterilized bottle.Then ozone is injected into the bottle, and the bottle is gently shaken, allowing the red and white blood cells to take up the ozone. The ozonated blood is then returned to the body. The entire procedure takes about 30-40 minutes.
Ozone therapy consists of the introduction of ozone into the body via various methods, usually involving its mixture with various gases and liquids before injection, with potential routes including the vagina, rectum, intramuscular (in a muscle), subcutaneously (under the skin), or intravenously (directly into veins). Ozone can also be introduced via autohemotherapy, in which blood is drawn from the patient, exposed to ozone and re-injected into the patient.
This therapy has been proposed for use in various diseases, including cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s dementia, Lyme disease, though supportive evidence for these applications is limited. Theories about the ability of ozone to kill tumor cells with oxygen have no credible scientific basis.[1] For treatment of HIV/AIDS, although ozone deactivates the viral particles outside the body, there is no evidence of benefit for living patients.
The United States Food and Drug Administration initially stated in 1976, and reiterated its position in 2006, that when inhaled, ozone is a toxic gas which has no demonstrated safe medical application, though their position statements primarily deal with its potential for causing inflammation and pulmonary edema in the lungs. Their second major contention is that in order for ozone to be effective as a germicide, it must be present in a concentration far greater than can be safely tolerated by humans or other animals.
Ozone has been suggested for use in dentistry, but existing evidence does not support its use.
One review found tentative evidence that ozone injection is an effective treatment for herniated discs.
There is some controversy about its use by athletes in an attempt to increase performance; although its use is not disallowed in and of itself, it can be mixed with other banned substances for administration prior to injection.
Is Ozone Therapy For Me?
This is a decision for a doctor who is trained and experienced in the medical use of ozone. Some conditions simply will not clear up unless ozone is used, and of course many conditions will clear up without ozone. Because of its many therapeutic properties, ozone can be used as part of a therapeutic plan for almost every disease.
It is invaluable in the treatment of heart disease and circulatory disorders. Chronic infections such as hepatitis-C, herpes, Lyme, and AIDS respond very favorably to ozone. It is also very helpful in chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune diseases.
It is important to realize that ozone therapy is not a panacea or some kind of magic bullet. Although it is often an indispensable modality, it is only rarely effective by itself. In the great majority of cases it must be combined with an individualized program of other alternative and natural therapies, such as nutrition and detoxification.
