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EspañolOZONE THERAPY
Some people, including a number of doctors and biochemists, believe ozone has remarkable healing properties.[1][2][3] Others though dismiss these claims as quackery.[4][5][6][7] For many years ozone's medical value or non-value has been the subject of controversial and emotional debate.[8]
Ozone therapy for various reasons has not been evaluated by clinical trials.[9] Many people are skeptical of the concept of ozone as a medicine because they are mindful of ozone's capacity to oxidize organic compounds.[10] and the toxic effects on the respiratory tract caused by inhaling ozone in smog produced as a by product of nitrogen oxide emissions in the lower atmosphere.[11][12] However, ozone for medical use is produced from medical grade oxygen, not air. No ozone therapies involve inhaling the gas; when otherwise consumed in precise therapeutic doses, advocates claim ozone has holistic health benefits.[13] The use of ozone in medicine is not endorsed by health authorities or medical associations in any English speaking countries. In most states prohibitions on the marketing of ozone generators, the medical practice, even research and clinical trial of ozone therapies are enforced. Doctors risk losing their medical licenses by administering or prescribing ozone therapies. Which has been argued encourages its practice by quacks and charlatans or self administration. Under such circumstances the image of ozone therapy has suffered as it has on occasion been resorted to by people with incurable diseases after conventional medicine has failed them, not always with fortunate results. However there is anecdotal evidence of ozone therapy having caused remission in a variety of diseases,[14] but only a few of these life saving administrations of ozone therapy can be verified.[15]
Historical origins of ozone therapy
In 1856, just 16 years after German chemist Christian Frederick Schonbein discovered it at the University of Basel in Switzerland, ozone was first used in a health care setting to disinfect operating rooms and sterilize surgical instruments.[16] This surgical application has recently been rediscovered [17]. By the end of the 19th Century use of ozone to disinfect drinking water supplies of bacteria and viruses was well established in mainland Europe[18][19][20][21].
The earliest record of the application of ozone therapy in an English language medical journal is in 1885 titled 'Ozone' by Charles J. Kenworthy, M. D., M.R.S.V. from Jacksonville USA, published by the Florida Medical Association.[22] Today Florida is where the prohibition of ozone therapy is most rigorously enforced.[23] In contrast, a short distance away in Cuba medical ozone is most liberally researched and practiced, there are ozone generators in every hospital.[24][25].
In 1892 Lancet published an article describing the administration of ozone for treatment of tuberculosis.[26] Then in 1902 another by Stoker where he claims success in treating chronic middle ear deafness with ozone [27]
During the first world war (1914-18) Doctors by then familiar with ozone's anti bacterial properties, and with few other medical resources available to them applied it topically to infected wounds and discovered ozone not only remedied infection, but also had hemodynamic and anti inflammatory properties. In the Lancet of 1916, reports the following;
'
“The accompanying tabulation statement of the results of the first 21 cases treated by ozone at the Queen Alexandria Military Hospital “England” cannot be regarded as anything but satisfactory from every standpoint, be it humanitarian, scientific or economic. The cases were, for the most part, those of cavities and sinuses in the femur and tibia. It is the great experience of those who have seen a great deal of war surgery that such cases obstinately resist treatment and are apt to remain unhealed for months and years...I have failed in only one case...the properties of ozone which have a wonderful healing effect are...an increased flow of blood to the affected part...as a germicide it destroys all hostile micro-organic growth...as the French chemist Hennocque has shown it has great powers in the formation of oxyhaemoglobin...at present our knowledge of the effects of ozone is but small, but later I hope to bring before the medical public further satisfactory facts with reference to its working and results”' 'Major George Stoker MRCS, 1916' [28]
After Major Stokers 1917 sequel to the Surgical Uses of Ozone [29], with the exceptions of Quain in 1940 again with regards to wounds[30], Thwaities 'Ozone Healing' in the Australian Medical Journal of 1977 [31] and Albert Braggs 'Are Worry Free Blood Transfusions Just a Whiff of Ozone Away' in the 1993 Canadian Journal [32] , reports of ozone research published by Medical Associations in English speaking countries are scarce. However, many medical journals published by international specialist medical research societies have in recent years lent considerable publicity to ozone research.
Effects of inhaled ozone
The U.S. EPA recognizes inhaled ozone to have a number of detrimental effects; "10 to 20 percent of all summertime respiratory-related hospital visits in the northeastern U.S. are associated with [ground-level] ozone pollution". Further, the EPA warns against exposure to ozone, reporting that high levels of O3 are toxic to humans when inhaled. [33]
At least one death has been attributed to the application of ozone therapy in the USA. Caused by gas embolism that occurred during autohemotransfusion (03-AHT) for psoriasis.[34]
Non-toxic levels of O3 may not remove bacteria, viruses, or fungi in the atmosphere in any meaningful way . However, there is potential for medical use of ozonated water to kill viruses and bacteria, and this is an interesting area for scientific research. [35]
Evidence of medical benefits of ozone therapy
With regards to the debate of the merits of ozone therapy, the promotional claims by some marketer's of ozone generators that it is a miraculous cure for all disease including cancer and AIDS has given many people false hope and hurt the credibility of ozone therapy.[4] Leading the opposing argument is the US Food and Drug Administration whom state that ozone is a toxic gas with no known useful medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy and in order for ozone to be effective as a germicide, it must be present in a concentration far greater than that which can be safely tolerated by man and animals.[37] The FDA recently approved ozone’s use as a disinfectant in the food processing industry, however.
A search of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) or the New York based World Health Organization (WHO) database will reveal no literature on any research reporting benefits of ozone use in medicine. However, a search of internationally published peer reviewed medical journals will reveal hundreds of articles reporting positive outcomes of medical ozone research and application for a vast range of pathology. Most of these published since 1990 and accessible on medline, they include pre-clinical studies, animal experiments, patient case history's, placebo controlled blinded human trials and reviews, by researchers mostly from Italy, Poland, Russia, Germany, Cuba, Spain, Israel, Japan and America whom draw conclusions that conflict with the FDA. The literature in their native languages is more abundant.[38]
Studies of the toxicity and side effects of blood ozonation
Much of the concern related to ozone therapy revolves around the safety of blood ozonation. Most people like Saul Green [39] familiar with ozone's capacity to oxidize organic compounds in an atmospheric environment would logically assume the same effect on blood components and endogenous human tissues. Researchers, including advocates of ozone therapy have conceded that when infused into human blood, ozone produces reactive oxygen species ROS [40] or free radicals, an over abundance of which causes oxidative stress, cell damage and is now universally implicated in the progression of degenerative diseases. Interestingly, though, ROS have also been discovered to also perform an array of essential cell signaling functions[41].
The impact on blood chemistry and biological function of blood ozonation treatments like Autohemotherapy (03-AHT) has been investigated in a number of studies. (03-AHT) is a procedure that has been practiced for over 50 years by European physicians[42]. It involves withdrawing up to 200ml of venous blood, then immediately mixing it with therapeutic concentrations of soluble ozone gas and a minimal amount of anticoagulant, usually heparin, then re-infused, usually into the basilic vein at the elbow.
In 2000, The International Society of Hematology, published an investigation into the effect of blood ozonation on red blood cell enzymes and intermediates, the research group included three biochemists from the Scripps Research Institute, California, USA, they reported the following:
'
“Ozone autohemotherapy has been considered a form of alternative medicine and has not yet been subjected to the rigors of well-designed clinical trials. Despite encouraging anecdotal reports regarding the use of ozone in various disorders, there has been a concern that ozone per se may adversely affect red cell membranes and metabolites. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effect of ozone administration at a concentration commonly used in autohemotherapy on a panel of red cell enzymes and intermediates, as well as its effect on red cell integrity. Since these parameters were unaffected by ozone, we suggest that clinical trials for the use of ozone autohemotherapy should be encourage[43]”'
Previously, in 1991, at a Canadian Hospital 03-AHT was subjected to its first and last clinical trial in North America. In the late 1980s, reports had emerged that German physicians where successfully treating HIV patients with 03-AHT. Lobbying due to concerns related to the lack of a pharmaceutical treatment for HIV, and fears of a pandemic, Canadian authorities authorized the study to test safety and efficiancy of 03-AHT in AIDS patients. Ozone had shown promise in in vitro testing[44]. Unfortunately for AIDS patients, Autohemotherapy (03-AHT), proved not to be an effective treatment in vivo.
The positive conclusion of the Canadian trial, however, was during phase I. As in any clinical trial, the safety of re-infusing ozonated blood was critically investigated in 10 patients and no toxicity or adverse effects were observed after 12 weeks of treatment[45].
This non toxicity and absence of any significant side effects has been confirmed by
Italian [46][47]
Israeli [48]
Japanese [49]
and polish [50][51][52][53][54] studies.
Evidently, it seems human blood has the ability to tame the oxidative powers of ozone at concentrations up to at least 42μg/ml, while the mechanisms for defense against ozone damage or the biochemical cascade blood ozonation triggers seem to be impaired in pathogens that are not protected by the body's anti-oxidant system[55][56].
If the therapeutic effects of blood ozonation do exist, this of course creates a paradox with an even greater volume of research that shows that ozone, when inhaled by mammals, reacts with compounds in tissues lining the lungs and triggers a cascade of pathological effects.
Such a paradox of a gas that is toxic when inhaled but also having medical benefit when otherwise applied would not be unique. Mustard gas is a schedule 1 substance in the Chemical Weapons Convention, but when injected intravenously nitrogen mustard served for many years as the worlds first chemotherapy drug. [57]
Nitric oxide also a toxic atmospheric pollutant, but when created in vivo as a by product of enzyme synthesis in mammals has a physiological role as a cell signaling molecule essential for numerous biological processes. Although a free radical a deficiency of nitric oxide is now implicated in a great variety of disease. [58]
Countries and states where ozone therapy is practiced
Ozone therapy is a well established alternative and complementary therapy in most mainland European countries where health authorities have tolerated to its practice. The European Cooperation of Medical Ozone Societies, founded in 1972 publishes guidelines on medical indications and contraindications of ozone and hosts training seminars[59]. In the early 1980’s a German survey and investigation into ozone therapy by the University of Kilnikum Griessen and the Institute for Medical Statistics, published in the Empirical Medical Acts revealed over 5 million ozone treatments had been delivered to some 350,000 patients, by more than 1000 therapists, of this number about half were medical doctors [60]. Although ozone is used in a complementary capacity by a significant number of doctors in Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany it has still not gained popular support with main stream industry policy makers in those countries, it is not covered by health insurance, nor is it part of the curriculum at most esteemed medical schools. Proposal’s to include ozone therapy in German health insurance schemes invoked hostile objections from pharmaceutical researchers who question its evidence base[61]. In general Countries with more socialist style health systems seem to have had less difficulty in accepted ozone as a medicine [62][63].
No prohibition of ozone therapy is evident in Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine. In the USA, recently passed Alternative Therapy Legislation has made ozone therapy an option for patients in some states. In Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, and Washington Physicians can legally use ozone treatments in their practice without fear of prosecution.
Methods of administration
Traditional ozone therapies include; Intravenous autohaemotransfusion also known as autohemotherapy (03-AHT) [64]
Intramuscular (O3-AHT), Intra-articular & intradiscal O2/03 gas injections [65], rectal and vaginal insulflation [66][67], Transdermal ozone gas sauna [68], limb bagging or booting, Ozonated Olive Oil liniments & poultices [69] , Drinking ozonated water , Dental applications [70][71].
Contra Applications of ozone, the European Cooperation of Medical Ozone Societies, warns direct intravenous injections of ozone/ oxygen gas [72] should not be practiced due to the possible risk of air embolism. Therapists also take all precautions to avoid the patient and themselves inhaling ozone gas in concentration.
More modern applications of medical ozone that are currently being evaluated in clinical trials include; Healozone [73],
Medizone, Celacade, Lipidvirotech's d-OSAB and Extra-Corporeal Blood Oxygenation & Ozonation 'EBOO' a unique hemofiltration and blood purification procedure now practiced routinely at the University of Sienna in Italy [74].
References
1. Ozone Therapy Editorial Review
2. Ozone Therapy Seems to Be Safe, But is it Really Effective?
3. S Rilling & R Veibahn, The Use of Ozone in Medicine; Haug, New York, 1987
4. Oxygenation Therapy: Unproven Treatments for Cancer and AIDS
5. CHAPTER TWENTY QUACKERY
6. Quackbusters Inc.: Hot On The Heels Of Medical Hucksters
7. So what has ozone ever done for us?
8. The Dilemma of Exposing or Burying a Complementary Medical Approach
9. Biological and Clinical Effect of Ozone. Has Ozone Therapy any Future in Medicine?
10. Razumovskii & Zaikov, Ozone and its Reactions With Organic Compounds., Elsevier, New York. 1984
11. Health and Environmental Effects of Ground-Level Ozone
12. Effects of Ozone Exposure On Lung Function In Man
13. Is It True That Ozone Is Always Toxic? The End Of A Dogma.
14.
15. Necrotizing Fasciitis Successfully Treated With Extra-Corporeal Blood Oxygenation and Ozonization (EBOO)
16. Chemical Technology Encyclopedia; Barnes & Noble 1968 vol 1 pp 82-3
17. Ozone-The Latest Advance in Sterilization of Medical Devices
18. Chemical Technology Encyclopedia; Barnes & Noble 1968 vol 1 pp 82-3
19. Study of the Ozonization of Drinking Water Containing Pathogenic Bacteria and Viruses
20. Disinfection of Organisms in Drinking Water Pilot Plant using Peroxone
21. Safety of Treated Water for Re-Use Purposes-Comparison
22. The Abbreviated History and Suppression of Ozone Therapy in the USA as of August 1993; Ed McCabe 1994
23. Ozone Generators Generate Prison Terms for Couple
24. Ozone: A Wide-Spectrum Healer
25. 9/11 Heroes fly to Cuba for Healthcare
26. The Internal Administration of Ozone in the Treatment of Phthisis, Lancet II, Nov. 19, 1892; pages 1180-1181
27. G. Stroker, Ozone in Chronic Middle Ear Deafness, Lancet II, Nov. 1, 1902; 1187-1188
28. The Surgical Uses of Ozone
29. G. Stoker, The Surgical Uses of Ozone; Lancet I, May 26, 1917; 797
30. J.R.Quain, Ozone Treatment of Wounds, Lancet I June 1, 1940; 1028-1029
31. M.Twaities, Ozone Healing
32. Are Worry Free Transfusions Just a Whiff of Ozone Away?
33. Health and Environmental Effects of Ground-Level Ozone, U.S. EPA, July 1997
34. Marchetti D, An unexpected death during oxygen-ozone therapy, Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2000 Jun;21(2):144-7
35. A Virology Primer: With Special Reference to Ozone
36. Oxygenation Therapy: Unproven Treatments for Cancer and AIDS
37. Code of Federal Regulations, 1976 Title 21 Vol 8 section 801.415 revised April 2006, US Food & Drug Administration
38. Ozone Therapy Research
39. Oxygenation therapy: Unproven treatments for Cancer and AIDS
40. Studies on the biological effects of ozone: 7. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after exposure of human blood to ozone
41. Free radical biology and medicine: it's a gas, man!
42. Effect of autohemotherapy on the blood and blood picture
43. Effect of ozone on red blood cell enzymes and intermediates
44. Inactivation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 by ozone in vitro
45. The use of ozone treated blood in the therapy of HIV infection and immune disease: a pilot study of safety and efficacy
46. Studies on the biological effects of ozone: 5. Evaluation of immunological parameters and tolerability in normal volunteers receiving ambulatory autohaemotherapy
47. A realistic evaluation of the action of ozone on whole human blood
48. Effect of ozone on neutrophil function in vitro
49. Susceptibilities of plasma antioxidants and erythrocyte constituents to low levels of ozone
50. No effects of ozonated autohemotherapy on inflammation response in hemodialyzed patients
51. Blood coagulation unaffected by ozonated autohemotherapy in patients on maintenance hemodialysis
52. Natural killer cell activity unaffected by ozonated autohemotherapy in patients with end-stage renal disease on maintenance renal replacement therapy
53. Platelet function unaffected by ozonated autohaemotherapy in chronically haemodialysed patients
54. Ozonated autohemotherapy in patients on maintenance hemodialysis: influence on lipid profile and endothelium.
55. Ozone selectively inhibits growth of human cancer cells
56. Ozone inactivates HIV at noncytotoxic concentrations
57. Nitrogen Mustard Therapy.
58. www.nitricoxide.ws
59. European Cooperation of Medical Ozone Societies, web site
60. Jacobs et al, Untersuchung Uber Zwischenfalle Und Typische Komplikationen In Der Ozon-Sauerstoff-Therapie. Ozo Nachrichten 1982; 1:5
61. German Law Embraces Alternative Medicine
62. Ikonomidis et al, New Data Regarding The Use Of Ozone Therapy In The Former Soviet Union Countries. Rivista Italiana di Ossigeno-Ozonoterapia 4 (1): 40-43, 2005
63. Ozonotherapy
64. Autohaemotherapy after treatment of blood with ozone. A reappraisal
65. Treatment of herniated lumbar disc by intradiscal and intraforaminal oxygen-ozone (O2-O3) injection
66. The Nurse's Work In The Application Of Ozone Therapy In Retinitis Pigmentosa
67. Does Ozone Alleviate Aids Diarrhea?
68. Quasi-Total-Body Exposure To An Oxygen-Ozone Mixture In A Sauna Cabin
69. Efficacy Of Ozonized Sunflower Oil In The Treatment Of Tinea Pedis
70. The use of ozone in dentistry and medicine. Part 2. Ozone and root caries.
71. Experience in medical ozone use for root canal treatment
72. Clinical Assessment of Treatment Results for Atherosclerotic Ischemia of the Lower Extremities with Intra arterial Ozone Injections
73. Clinical reversal of root caries using ozone, double-blind, randomised, controlled 18-month trial
74. Extracorporeal Blood Oxygenation and Ozonation: Clinical and Biological Implications of Ozone Therapy.
See also
★ Air ioniser
External links
★ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3249804628594299452&q=ozone+therapy&hl=en
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