Ozone Therapy

Researchers have developed medical ozone generators and it is now easy to evaluate the action and possible toxicity of ozone through clinical trials. Before this, ozone's medical value was supposed to be a subject of controversy. Ozone can lead to toxic effects on the respiratory tract when present in smog. When the gas is clinically produced from medical grade oxygen, it can be used in precise therapeutic doses for holistic health benefits. Ozone therapy never allows inhalation of ozone. The therapy is not backed by the health authorities or medical associations.

In majority of the US states, the marketing of ozone generators, its medical use and even research and clinical trials of ozone (to check how it can be used to cure illnesses) are prohibited. Doctors can lose their medical licenses if they are found administering or prescribing ozone therapies. Ozone has been in use as a disinfectant or sterilizer of the operating rooms and the surgical instruments, since 1856. In Europe, ozone was used to disinfect drinking water which contained bacteria and viruses. The known first use of ozone in ozone therapy is recorded in 'The Lancet' published in 1892, which describes the administration of ozone to treat tuberculosis. In 1902 another article that claimed success in treating chronic middle ear deafness with ozone was published. During the 19th century, doctors became familiar with ozone's anti bacterial properties. During the first world war, taking into consideration the above property of ozone, ozone was used to treat infected wounds and doctors discovered that ozone is not only a good remedy for infection but it also has hemodynamic (blood circulation) and anti-inflammatory properties.

Types of Ozone Therapy

• Intravenous autohaemotransfusion or ozone autohemotherapy (O₃-AHT)
• Intramuscular (O₃-AHT), intra-articular and intradiscal O₂/O₃ gas injections
• Transdermal ozone gas sauna
• Limb bagging or booting
• Ozonated oil (such as avocado, olive, hempseed, canola or sunflower) liniments and poultices
• Rectal and vaginal insufflation
• Drinking ozonated water
• Dental applications

Doctors take all precautions to avoid inhalation of concentrated ozone gas by the patient and themselves. Ozone therapy at home can be risky. It needs to be administered by an expert health professional.

Side Effects

The U.S.F.D.A. has declared that ozone is a toxic gas with no known useful medical application in specific, adjunctive or preventive therapy. According to the studies conducted, the concentration required for effective use of ozone as a germicide is far greater than the concentration which can be tolerated by man and animals. So it is considered as unsafe. However, the FDA has recently allowed the use of ozone as a disinfectant in the food processing industry. No researches, reporting benefits of 'ozone use in medicine' have been yet published by WHO and JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association.

When ozone is inhaled by human beings, it affects the tissues, which are present in the lining the lungs of the lungs and can result in a series of pathological complications. Ozone when infused into human blood, produces free radicals. Excessive free radicals can lead to oxidative stress and cell damage and this in turn can result in the progression of some degenerative diseases like cancer.

Benefits

For HIV Patients: German physicians were successful in treating HIV patients with O₃-AHT, ozone autohemotherapy, a procedure that has been practiced for over 50 years by European physicians. Ozone had shown promise in vitro in a controlled environment) testing and it was seen effective at disinfecting extracorporeal (outside the body) blood samples of HIV. After 12 weeks of treatment, toxicity or adverse effects were not noticed. Non toxicity and absence of any significant side effects of ozone therapy have been confirmed by Italian, Israeli, Japanese and Polish studies.

For Cancer Patients: Researches and studies suggest that there are no enough evidences which can prove the potential benefit or harm of ozone in cancer patients. Therefore the therapy can't be yet recommended as an alternative form of treatment for cancer patients. According to the preliminary findings, ozone inhibited growth of lung, breast and uterine cancer cells without damaging the healthy tissues. As cancer cells are anaerobic, they die when exposed to oxygen. The therapy involves using an infusion bottle. It involves removing some blood from the body, adding oxygen (i.e. ozone) to it, then again putting this oxygen rich blood back into the body. In another similar treatment, known as ozone I.V., no blood is extracted. An ozone saturated fluid is put into the bloodstream via I.V.

This type of treatment is neither covered by health insurance, nor is it taught at most of the esteemed medical schools. There were proposals of including ozone therapy in German health insurance schemes but pharmaceutical researchers objected furiously, questioning its evidence base. Use of the therapy is not prohibited in Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Ukraine. In the U.S. in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington, physicians are legally allowed to make use of the therapy in their practice.