Editor's Note: Gary Null, well known and respected author, really
comes through with this comprehensive and well referenced article.
"
I know a number of cases of individuals with T-cell counts that
have been very low, but because of regular ozone therapy they
have not gotten any opportunistic infections. In fact, it's almost
as though the ozone is taking the place of their immune system.
Unfortunately, you often do not see rises in their T-cell counts,
but you can see a stabilization and a management as a chronic
manageable illness. It's my belief that the use of ozone in association
with other complementary therapies can convert AIDS from a uniformly
terminal illness to something that is chronically manageable,
which is better than what anyone else can offer at this point." -
-Dr. John Pittman (1)
Many feel it to be the most promising, safe, and generally efficacious
treatment for major degenerative diseases, from AIDS and chronic
fatigue to cancer and arthritis. It's ozone - - medical ozone.
Medical ozone differs from atmospheric ozone in that it is pure
and concentrated. This is an important distinction because atmospheric
ozone, produced from ultraviolet radiation, is combined with
different nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide products and is harmful.
It's not used in medical practice.
Ozone (O3) is produced by the reaction of oxygen atoms (O) with
molecular oxygen (O2)- This allotrope (different form) of oxygen
possesses unique properties that, while they have yet to be completely
defined and understood, have been benefiting clinical practice
for years, albeit mostly in Europe. Most of the states in this
country have yet to legalize use of the healing powers of this
nontoxic molecule.
Of course lack of official acknowledgment within certain political
boundaries in no way negates the properties of any natural substance,
and that includes ozone. As a molecule containing an excess of
energy, ozone manifests bactericidal, virucidal, and fungicidal
action, which may make it a treatment of choice under certain
conditions and an adjunct to treatment in others. (2) Some of
its characteristics and applications are described by Dr. Stanley
Beyerle, a naturopathic physician who trained with some of the
pioneers of ozone research and treatment:
"Systematically, it oxidizes organic compounds. Topically,
it can be used to treat burns. Ozone has hemostatic effects that
stop bleeding. It accelerates wound healing, induces enzyme production,
and activates immune system response. It is also believed that
ozone may have the ability to peroxidize lipids [break up fats]."(3)
As early as World War I, ozone's bactericidal properties were
used to treat infected wounds, mustard gas burns, and fistulas,
although these treatments were limited by technological difficulties.
Current ozone therapy uses a mixture of ozone and pure oxygen,(4)
and with today's medical ozone generators, the ability now exists
to deliver pure ozone-oxygen mixtures in precise dosages. The
Europe-based Medical Society for Ozone and the National Center
for Scientific Research in Cuba currently use the treatment for
a wide variety of conditions, including wound problems, gastrointestinal
disorders, cancer, and AIDS. Doctors report particular success
with the different types of hepatitis, as well as candida, allergies
and bladder infections. Other disorders treated with ozone therapy:
herpes, arthritis, respiratory conditions, multiple sclerosis,
sexually transmitted diseases, and parasitic conditions.
And this is just a partial list. What's more, while ozone can
be used to treat a wide spectrum of conditions, it can also be
used prophylactically to combat harmful viruses, bacteria, and
free radicals before degeneration and disease occur. Additionally,
already healthy people can use ozone to rejuvenate cells so that
they can stay younger longer. As science reporter Nathaniel Altman
observes, it is unusual indeed to have a product that treats
such a tremendous range of conditions. Altman recounts ozone's
multiple benefits:
"First of all, it stimulates the production of white blood
cells and increases the production of interferon, interleuken-2,
and tumor necrosis factor, which the body uses to fight infections
and cancer. It is anti- neoplastic, which means that it inhibits
the growth of tumors. One study performed at Baylor University
in Texas, in 1962, determined that ozone can help to kill tumors
and enhance the effect of different types of anti-tumor drugs.
Ozone kills bacteria and viruses. In addition, it increases the
amount of oxygen in the blood and helps deliver oxygen to all
of the cells in the body. It also helps degrade petrochemicals.
This includes different toxins that one might have in the body
due to the environment or food eaten. It helps dissolve and eliminate
them from the body, and hence, lightens the body's toxic load.
It also increases red blood cell membrane distendability, making
it more flexible. This is one way it is used in the treatment
of heart disease. The administration of ozone changes the blood
formation and helps the blood flow more effectively. In Cuba,
for example, there is an ozone generator in every major hospital
emergency room. It helps heart patients and stroke victims recover
much quicker. It also increases the effectiveness of the antioxidant
enzyme system, which scavenges excess free radicals in the body.
These are just some of the things that it does." (5)
How Ozone is Used
There are several ways to dispense ozone for therapeutic purposes.
One is to introduce the ozone mixture into a fixed volume of
the patient's blood ex vivo, that is, outside the body. This
method is known as autohemotherapy (AHT), and is performed
mainly in central Europe.6 AHT is claimed to have therapeutic
value in circulatory disorders, viral diseases, and cancer.
(7)
With AHT, 50 to 100 milliliters of blood are drawn from the patient,
mixed with a dose of ozone/oxygen of a predetermined concentration,
and then returned via the same intravenous catheter. Once it's
returned to the patient, the ozonated blood is rapidly distributed
to all tissues. While it is not known how long the ozone remains
in solution, its therapeutic effects have been seen to include
virucidal activity, oxygenation, and increased red cell fluidity.
(2)
Some patients, upon receiving their own ozonated blood, report
a faint background taste of ozone, which may be a sign of the
ozone surviving in the solution for at least a few seconds. Of
interest, notes Dr. Gerard Sunnen, are reports of AHT patients
who experience feelings of well-being lasting for a few minutes
to several hours after treatment. Sunnen does not know if these
feelings constitute a placebo effect, a metabolic alteration,
or a neuropsychiatric phenomenon.
Another commonly used form of administration is rectal insufflation.
Essentially, a catheter is put into the colon and gas from an
ozone machine is allowed in at a determined concentration and
flow rate. The ozone can also be self administered this way with
a Teflon bag.8 One study, by Knoch, Roschke, and Klug, reveals
how the method works. After oxygen-ozone mixtures are absorbed
through the wall of the large intestine, they enter the bloodstream
and result in a PaO2 increase within the entire organism, raising
PaO2 almost 100 percent higher than oxygen alone would, and having
no adverse effects.(9)
Dr. Beyerle,
who is certified by the German Medical Ozone Society, studied
the rectal insufflation method of delivering
ozone therapy
in Germany with one of the pioneers in the field, Dr. Rilling
Beyerle explains that "the blood vessels in the colon, small
intestine, and bladder are the mesenteric veins, which deposit
into the portal vein and go straight to the liver. The simple
introduction of the catheter into the colon, at a low flow rate
to increase concentration, gets ozone into the systemic venous
system. Dr. Rilling says that if nothing else is done but rectal
insufflation, which does not really require a physician at all,
you see dramatic results."(3)
Positive therapeutic effects on diseases of the rectum and colon
have been noted with this method since 1936. Beyerle has seen
people recover from irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, and Crohn's
disease, almost immediately. "There may be some initial
discomfort, some bloating and gas on occasion, but as far as
irritations, we have yet to see any contraindications. If you've
got colitis or irritable bowel syndrome, when ozone is administered
properly, there are no negative side effects, only positive ones.
It renews the mucous lining and gets to the bacterial infestation
that has infiltrated the tissues of the colon."(3)
Ozone gas can also be directly injected into veins or muscles,
a process known as intraarticular or intravenous application.
This method, however, can be dangerous, and is not recommended.
Drinking ozonated water is another method that has been used.
Ozonated water is made by bubbling 16 to 20 mcg/ml ozone through
a glass of chilled distilled water (33 to 40 F) for two minutes.
The water is then drunk immediately.10 A further method consists
of introducing ozone to the skin in a sauna bag after a hot shower
and a brisk rubdown. (8)
Ozone Against Cancer
Low concentrations of ozone have been proven to increase alpha
interferon. Interferon is an anti-cancer substance that laboratories
ail over the country are trying to reproduce, but with ozone,
the body will make its own. Once interferon production is initiated,
interleuken-2, another anti-cancer agent, is increased. This
sets in motion a cascade of immunological events. Specifically,
tumor necrosis factor, macrophages, and phagocytes increase,
and immunoglobulin processes, such as IgA, IgE, and IgM, activate.
Dr. Beyerle elaborates on how he uses ozone in treating cancer:
"When I treat cancer, I want the body's immune response
to take care of it and activate the immunological properties,
and this is what we see with cancer. We can work right into AIDS
with this because what we're looking at is immunological stimulation."(3)
Beyerle treats prostate cancer with an ozone protocol that he
reports has yielded phenomenal results. His treatment includes
taking 5 cc of the patient's blood, mixing it with 5 cc of ozone
at a low concentration, shaking it up, aerating it, making sure
it is saturated, and then reinjecting it back into the prostate.
He performs five treatments over the course of 20 days, and the
program helps prostatic tumors to shrink dramatically.
Beyerle states
that most prostate cancer is contained within a capsule until
it is biopsied, and he attributes the
overuse
of biopsies to the spread of cancer within the body. He prefers
to check the prostate with ultrasound, as opposed to biopsies,
which he asserts are "overused and one of the very worst
procedures that can possibly be done .... I can prove beyond
a doubt that is one of the causative agents of spreading cancer."(11)
So he feels that a big advantage of ozone is that it successfully
treats this cancer while it is still encapsulated.
Beyerle reports
major improvement with other types of cancers too, using ozone,
including tonsillar, throat,
ovarian, colon,
and breast cancer. "I have three breast cancer patients
now who were supposed to be dead a year ago," he says.(11)
Also, he is seeing improvement in breast cancer patients where
there is metastasis to the bones, liver, and spinal column:
"We are seeing patients who were bedridden two years ago
and sent home to die. They are becoming ambulatory. Their energy
level is coming up. They are gaining weight. And we see these
spontaneous fractures in the spine are gradually disappearing.
Strength is returning to the musculature. There is no spinal
pain." (3)
Beyerle's cancer protocol is not limited to ozone; like most
practitioners who use this modality, he combines it with others,
and he pays attention to lifestyle factors. So, for instance,
he includes immune stimulating botanicals, such as the maitake
mushroom. Beyerle also uses ozone to treat noncancerous conditions
than can eventually become cancerous, such as fibroids and benign
prostatic hypertrophy.
HIV and AIDS
Recent studies support the use of ozone therapy for people
who are HlV-positive or have AIDS. In one, Dr. Michael Carpendale
treated two male HIV-positive asymptomatic patients with colonic
insufflations of an ozone/oxygen mixture intermittently for
180 weeks. Both patients increased their CD4 (T4) cell counts
and one, after the 160th week, became polymerase chain reaction
negative. According to the doctor, both patients have remained
in the best of health, with no infections and no adverse symptoms
or malaise. (12)
Dr. Carpendale's program consisted of ozone produced from a
portable medical ozone generator13insulated through a Teflon
catheter into the patient's colon. For two years, the patients
treated themselves daily, and then weekly, with a booster dose
(for a total of 73 treatments containing 2065- 2137 mg ozone).
CD4 cell counts were monitored about every two months. Studies
showed that low doses of ozone in serum stimulated cell growth
and larger doses began to suppress it. Furthermore, ozone was
shown to reduce HIV in serum and did not adversely affect healthy
cells.
In another study, Carpendale and other researchers used colonic
insufflations of medical ozone to treat five AIDS or AIDS-related-complex
(ARC) patients with intractable diarrhea. Treatments were given
daily for 21-28 days with doses of ozone ranging from 2.7 to
3.0mg. Three patients, whose diarrhea was of unknown cause, experienced
complete resolution, and one markedly improved. The fifth patient,
whose diarrhea was due to cryptosporidium, experienced no change.
No adverse systemic effects were noted during treatment. Carpendale
and his colleagues feel that the results of the study reinforce
the findings of previous research on colonic insufflation ozone
therapy, i.e., that it is simple, safe, and effective. Further,
they assert that the treatment should be used routinely to treat
chronic intractable ARC/AIDS diarrhea.(14)
Other research,
by H. Kief, reports that ozone is "highly
effective against viruses and has an unusually high degree of
tolerance when administered parenterally."15 The study notes
an "astonishing improvement" in AIDS patients where
the disease has not severely progressed, and partial remission
in 30 percent of cases of complete manifestation of AIDS.
In another study, V. Bocci determined that autohemotherapy arrests
the progress of HIV in its early phase due to immunoregulatory
TH1-type cytokines and CD7 t-lymphocytes. Bocci concluded that
a mild and equilibrated stimulation of the immune system may
prevent or delay the fatal transition toward the prevalent production
of TH2-type cytokines.(16)
HIV reversal is no small matter. Nathaniel Altman, author of
Oxygen Healing Therapies (Health Arts Press), explains:
"
When I was in Cuba I interviewed one of the chemists doing research
on the subject. She said if a person infected with HIV receives
ozone before it gets into the lymphatic and bone systems, HIV
can be killed and stopped right on the spot." (5)
In Germany,
Vetter studied the results of ozone therapy with 100 patients
in different stages of AIDS. He concluded
that "None
of the patients developed any new opportunistic infections or
deteriorated compared to their initial condition. Other infections
occurred and were overcome, as in the HIV-negative population." 17
Vetter reported that HIV-positive patients need high concentrations
of ozone, and that added vitamin C enables a patient to tolerate
this without the risk of hemolysis (the breakdown of red blood
cells). Success was also attributed to uninterrupted ozone administration,
and slow re-infusion of ozonized blood.(17)
Various protocols
have been developed for treating AIDS patients with ozone.
An anonymous doctor (practicing in
a state where
ozone users are not safe from prosecution) recommends 12 treatments
on 12 consecutive days. "Virtually all the people I have
treated -- and I have treated over 170 -- have reversed their
condition within days, he reports. "People come in on a
stretcher and within days their general condition dramatically
improves." This doctor strongly believes that with AIDS,
ozone is the most important modality of all because it removes
infections and that, at least in western countries, AIDS is a
conglomerate of 30 or more infectious diseases as a result of
drug use or malnutrition.
HIV Treatment
News gives anecdotal accounts that support the idea of success
with ozone treatment in AIDS patients.
In one
story, Jim credits ozone applications in a sauna bag and rectal
insufflation with improving the quality of his life and keeping
infections at bay. The article states, "In three weeks,
his swollen lymph nodes disappeared and blood tests...showed
an increase in CD4s...."(18) A second report tells of Mike,
who increased his CD4 count by using ozone rectal insufflations
and drinking one glass of ozonated water daily. In six weeks
his CD4 count increased from 26 to 56, and he reported, "This
is the best I've felt in two years." Mike takes some supplements
but no medications.(19)
In a third
account, Marc tells how ozone helped increase his CD4 count
significantly: "I credit the IV ozone with raising
my T4 cells from 100 to 365 last fall. Then I stopped doing the
IV ozone as I don't particularly like needles. About six months
ago, I made an accidental discovery. I smelled the output of
ozone passed through the humidifier and noticed it was very weak.
I instinctively stopped using the humidifier and did the ozone
gas direct. I gave myself an enema with warm water before doing
the insufflation. I really feel this has been very effective.
Recently, I also started doing the sauna bag ozone dry and I
feel the combination in very powerful and very effective. I do
both treatments each day. I just don't feel good any more--I
feel great! I have never felt better." 20 Marc combines
ozone therapy with two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and
water to help digestion and clean the GI tract, and occasional
coffee enemas to help the liver dump toxins into the colon.
Concerning liver--and total blood--detoxification in conjunction
with ozone treatment, Dr. John Pittman stresses the importance
of these processes:
"In
treating hepatitis, direct AHT has been demonstrated countless
tines as being effective. By doing this
procedure,
at least 15 to 21 days, we've been able to see hepatitis completely
wiped out. We think, at least, in terms of treating AIDS, you've
got to be much more aggressive because there you've got viral
particles disbursed through the entire body, not just in the
liver. You've also got to get this trash out of the body after
you have destroyed all of the viral particles as well as stored
toxins and other substances in the blood.
"
So a detoxification program that focuses on cleansing the blood
and opening up all the avenues of elimination is really very
important to include in any ozone treatment program. This is
probably one of the biggest shortcomings among most physicians
using ozone. They don't realize what a powerful tool it is and
that it's going to leave a lot of trash in the blood that's been
oxidized. I make the analogy that ozone is like a controlled
forest fire. It goes in; it burns out the underbrush, and it
leaves the trunk of the tree a little bit charred....But, if
you come back a month or so later and you follow a very careful
rebuilding program--your diet has been excellent, there are detoxification
techniques that are being used- -then everything grows back nice
and green and it's better than it was. This is, in fact, what
we are seeing with our patients." 1
For people with active infections and low T-cell counts, the
HIV Treatment News author recommends the following protocol:
rectal insufflation (dry ozone)--two to four times daily; sauna
bag method (dry)-- once a day; when CMV or any infection is located
from the mouth to the esophagus to stomach to small intestines,
drink one cup of chilled ozonated distilled water on an empty
stomach three times a day; and colloidal silver--l/2 teaspoon
two to four times a day, which should eliminate 95 percent or
more of all opportunistic infections associated with HIV progression,
including pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. (20)
For HIV-positive or immune-depressed conditions with no symptoms,
the article suggests: rectal insufflation--once a day, five to
seven days a week; and/or the sauna bag method--20 minutes a
day, seven days a week, and one glass of chilled ozonated water
daily.
Both methods are believed to speed up increases in T4 counts
and other immune functions. People with CD4 counts below 50 are
especially encouraged to follow the entire protocol, which can
be done in sequence (rectal insufflation, sauna bag, ozonated
water) and completed in a half hour. The best times are early
morning or late afternoon, but these treatments should not be
done within three hours of eating a heavy meal. (20)
To support the belief that ozone therapy is safe and essentially
free of adverse effects, a data review was carried out involving
more than 340,000 patients treated with ozone. Adverse reactions
were reported for fewer than six thousandths of one percent of
them. 21 In another study, the Society of German Pathologists
and the German Society for Forensic Medicine reported 336 adverse
reactions for an estimated 5.5 million treatments involving all
forms of ozone therapy. It should be noted that the IV method
of administration had the most adverse effects, and if only autohemotherapy
is considered, adverse reactions are reduced to virtually zero.
Those patients reporting side effects are talking about mild
myalgia at the site of injection and occasional fever.
Countering Free-Radical Ravages--and Aging
An important benefit of ozone is that it increases the effectiveness
of the antioxidant enzyme system, which scavenges excess free
radicals in the body. Free radicals are molecules with unpaired
electrons on their outer ring. Their structure enables them
to latch onto other molecules and damage cells, tissues, and
organs. Once this occurs, they weaken physical vitality and
can damage body systems, including the neurological, cardiovascular
and immune systems.
The idea of biochemical invaders impairing immunity and overall
health is difficult to grasp, since they are part of the system
and not directly visible. By contrast, the impact of outside
invaders, such as bacteria and viruses, is easier to understand,
as their damage is more visible. It cannot compare, however,
to the destruction caused by free radicals. Nothing kills more
certainly.
Unlike bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can coexist
with the body, free radicals are not friendly coexisters. These
have one tendency--to cause havoc in the system. Free radical
damage results in a variety of symptoms and degenerative conditions.
According to Dr. Lamar Rosquist, free radicals contribute to
over 60 diseases or health-related symptoms, 22 ranging from
aging of the skin to chronic fatigue to damage to cell membranes,
leading to cell destruction, to damage to DNA, which can cause
precancerous conditions.
New theories
link the progression of HIV symptomatology to free radicals.
HIV Treatment News reports that "HIV, by its unique
molecular structure, may produce large amounts of free radicals
through a chain reaction process .... Free radicals may have
a major role to play in gastrointestinal problems in AIDS, including
colon inflammation, malabsorption syndrome and wasting syndrome." (22)
Antioxidants protect cell membranes from free radicals. These
oxygen modulators are believed to destroy free radicals by feeding
them electrons which change their chemical structure into more
stable compounds, like H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), that actually
enhance the oxidation process by creating more cellular energy.
(22) Dr. Beyerle explains how cellular energy is increased with
ozone:
"Once
in the blood, ozone reacts with fatty acids and the cell membranes
of erythrocytes. Ozone's reaction
at the membrane
starts glycolysis, the breakdown of fats. This increases ATP,
which is the energy system in the body. This, in turn, carries
and releases oxygen molecules. More oxygen in the system enables
the organism to do a variety of things, since the body thrives
on oxygen.
" Most microbes are anaerobic; they thrive without oxygen, and
cannot live in the presence of added oxygen in the bloodstream.
The ozone and the fatty acid cell membrane then do a reaction
that occurs at that membrane which creates peroxide. A lot of
destructive processes that go on are due to an accumulation of
peroxide. That's why antioxidants are so important, in not only
ozone treatment but in day-to-day living, because of all the
environmental pollution that occurs. When that happens, it creates
an increase in peroxides that go unchecked. What happens is that
when these peroxides accumulate within the cell, there's an increased
production of a specific biochemical called 23DPG diphosphoglycerate,
which enables oxygen to be released from the hemoglobin molecule.
"
Now all of a sudden we're freeing up more oxygen from the hemoglobin
molecule. Hemoglobin carries oxygen. Now, we've got all this
oxygen released going throughout our vascular system and it has
antimicrobial, antiviral activity. This is the latest German
research." (11)
Antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta
carotene, also act as free radical scavengers. They help remove
free radicals from the body after trapping them in what is called
the highly reactive singlet oxygen, and they prevent new free
radicals from being formed. In essence, they absorb the molecule's
altered energy state and return it to a normal state without
hamming the system.
In short, oxygen helps to protect cell membranes from free radical
damage and thus prevents premature aging, cancer, heart disease,
and many other degenerative conditions. Every second, oxygen
fights on behalf of every cell in the body. Oxygen, ozone, and
substantial quantities of various nutrients, including beta carotene,
vitamins C, E, B6, zinc, selenium, glutathione, pygnogenol, and
quercetin, help the body to better utilize oxygen. Combining
the right amount of vitamins with a live foods diet, and adjunctive
therapies as needed, prevents premature sickness and aging.
Some doctors
envision ozone being used by the general population for its
rejuvenating effects. One, a doctor
from a state in which
ozone use is not approved, says that, in fact: "This is
the main application I would like to use it for in the future--to
get people younger and have them live almost as long as they
want to."
The doctor
goes on to explain his enthusiasm for ozone as an anti-aging
factor: "Ozone, first of all, has what I have
called the homeopathic ozone effect. This reverses most latent
overt aging factors and disease processes that happen in the
body that you don't even know about. In a six-month period, after
just one ozone application, virtually every single person tells
me of dramatic improvements. "The second thing is the immune-modulating
effect of ozone and the reduction of allergic factors. An allergy
is an accumulation of fluid. It prevents you from absorbing nutrients
and causes other symptoms. Any person who has significant allergies
is in a constant state of nutritional deficiency. "Third,
it reverses the cross-linking of the collagen and reduces the
aging pigment ... By reversing those things, it will restore
the elasticity in all tissues. "It removes the arterial
plaque the same way it removes plaque in the pipes of heating/air-conditioning
systems. It also removes the fibrin in the veins by breaking
it down to pieces that are recognized by the macrophages and
then scavenged away. Indirectly, it works like a rotor-rooter
by changing unnecessary fibrin deposits or arterial plaque to
a point from which both the arteries and veins are cleaned out.
Obviously, if you have more circulation to all parts of your
body, all toxins can be removed and every cell of the body functions
better. "... As far as immune modulation is concerned ...
many researchers say that a person is as old as the immune system.
If you can have a perfectly young immune system, the rest of
the body will follow suit and you will be as young as your immune
system again."
One Part of the Therapeutic Picture
Clinicians usually recommend ozone as part of a larger holistic
protocol in the treatment of seriously ill patients. It's thus
a supplemental therapy used in conjunction with other treatment
modalities. Dr. John Pittman explains:
"I rarely
give ozone treatments unless they are combined with some other
supportive therapy. Admittedly,
the shortcoming
of doing this is that you don't always know which component is
most beneficial. But I certainly know from experience which things
generally help the most. Combining ozone with proper dietary
therapies and addressing other cofactors, particularly in the
GI tract, you can see tremendous changes in a person's constitution.
Their blood work can turn around, and it definitely can improve
the quality of life of an individual as well as the length of
their life."
"We have a program... set up for patients who come from
all around the country and stay from three to four weeks undergoing
daily treatment, six days a week. It includes daily ozone therapy
as well as IV infusions, such as vitamin C, three times a week,
and also EDTA chelation. Chelation therapy is primarily for opening
up capillaries and increasing the ability of the oxygen and ozone
to permeate the tissues." (1)
It's Pittman's
observation that the best benefits occur when ozone is taken
on a daily basis: "The halflife
of ozone is 45 minutes. After that time, it breaks down into
oxygen. In
the meantime, what it's really doing is transferring its high-energy
electron to other elements in the blood and producing various
peroxide formations that are continuing this oxidative effect.
The powerful oxidative effect appears to last 24 hours, making
a daily treatment the most effective way of using ozone."
According
to a doctor who, because of state regulations, must remain
nameless, ozone treatment is a recommended first
step
for all patients. It reduces the toxic load due to infections,
allergies, and other conditions, and it may even make further
treatment unnecessary. "It's just a basic therapy that will
enhance every treatment mode afterwards."
This physician
does stress that ozone is not an end-all in itself, but rather
one modality in a holistic
program: "I always
say, first you have to restore the nutrition. Then you have to
restore the mind-set. After that, you can go into specific programs
for specific conditions, which include ozone. I give ozone to
virtually all of my patients as a basis of therapy because sometimes
just one ozone treatment resolves their problem. Then they don't
need anything else. Obviously, if they have a serious degenerative
disease, like cancer or cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, or infectious diseases of any kind, they need
more intensive treatment. We like to give ozone in cancers and
AIDS, for instance, for 12 days. For hepatitis, it's usually
just for eight days. Most allergies respond to four-day treatments.
For acute infections, including pneumonia, usually one single
ozone application does the trick. Then if this person is in a
relatively good nutritional state, this is all it takes and the
body takes care of itself from there on out. It's very important
to understand that with all degenerative diseases, a combination
approach is necessary."
Obstacles to Ozone's Use
While ozone is without doubt a wide-spectrum healing modality,
it's also, in this country, one that's widely ignored, and
even suppressed. Nathaniel Altman surmises that "because
these elements are very available and also nonpatented, the
pharmaceutical industry has not been very happy with them." 5
The profit motive isn't there with ozone as it is with patentable
drugs, so there hasn't been the impetus for private companies
to do expensive studies of this modality. The unfortunate result:
medical ozone has been, in more ways than one, an invisible
healer. The general public is simply unaware of it as an option.
In fact, most states prohibit the use of ozone therapy, the
rationale being that American researchers must first prove
that the process will not harm people. That it has been used
safely in Europe for decades doesn't seem to count.
In a situation
frustrating to those familiar with ozone's potential, funding
for research is continually
denied by the National Institutes
for Health, while exorbitant sums are earmarked for less effective,
but more conventional, treatments. The situation doesn't seem
to make sense. For instance, State University of New York virologist
Bernard Poeisz has found that ozone could be used for "almost
seemingly complete destruction" of HIV without affecting
blood protein, and yet the NIH has refused funding, saying it
was not a priority. Dr. Kwaku Ohene-Frempon, head of Children's
Hospital Sickle Cell Center, says that "ozone kills bacteria" and "supplies
a lot of oxygen to tissues that need to be repaired." Seventy-two
thousand people in the U.S. suffer from sickle cell anemia and
the NIH spends about $70 million a year to try to alleviate the
disease. However, they will not fund ozone research, even though
Cuban doctors find that ozone cuts the length and severity of
painful sickle-cell episodes in half. 24 Nor will research on
ozone for diabetic conditions be funded, despite the fact that
Germany has been healing diabetic wounds with ozone for quite
some time.
Dr. Beyerle expresses the sentiments of the frustrated practitioners. "Extensive
studies have been done in other countries," he points out. "It
amazes me to see the literature that is being published and utilized
in Germany and Europe but has failed to appear in literature
or clinics in this country."
Beyerle goes
on to explore the reasons for this: "In my
opinion, it's all politics. It starts at the beginning with our
FDA, which is tremendously influenced by our drug companies.
Drug companies give almost 80 to 90 percent of funding for medical
schools. That's a fact. If drug companies have an influence on
medical schools and medical research, then this information will
never get there. Ozone's cheap. All you need is pure oxygen,
an ozone generator, and the proper training. I just recently
met with two professors from Frankfurt working using ozone with
cancer for over 15 years, and having spectacular results. Why
isn't it here? We have a medical mafia. There's too much money
being made in medicine for certain companies to allow something
so inexpensive and so worthwhile to be introduced in our country
that's not a money-maker." (11)
Ozone Overseas
Overseas, the picture is different. Medical ozone is used in
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Russia, and Cuba; and
England and France, while they don't use ozone medically, do
treat drinking water with it. (24)
Recently, the Twelfth World Congress of the International Ozone
Association was held in Lille, France. It was well attended by
researchers from around the world, some of whom are at a loss
to under stand America's seeming domination by an FDA out of
step with the latest in research, and out of control.
The papers presented at the Lille meeting covered a whole gamut
of areas in which medical ozone has proven of value. Heart disease
was one; ozone treatment was shown to improve the status of patients
with ischemic cardiopathy, fostering diminution or disappearance
of irregular heart rhythms, decreases in coronary failure, and
increased fitness levels.25 When used in the treatment of early-stage
stroke, ozone also demonstrated benefits, according to a German
study. 26 Glaucoma was another condition for which scientists
reported ozone's benefits, 27 and central nervous system disorders
were also shown to be helped.(28)
In orthopedics,
ozone has a significant contribution to make, as reported by
C.H. Siemsen, of Buxtehude, Germany.(29)
He stated
that "The application of medical ozone in acute and chronic
painful diseases of the joints is an alternative method of treatment
for obtaining rapid pain relief, decongestion, subsidence of
effusion, a reduction in temperature, and an increase in motility." Siemsen
reported that a number of therapy-resistant painful joint conditions
were recently treated with ozone for the first time, noting that
the treatment is a low-risk one.
The Cubans, in particular, seem to be keeping abreast of ozone's
possibilities. Cuba's Ozone Research Center, at Havana's National
Center for Scientific Research, recently investigated the cholesterol-
lowering effect of the substance. F. Femandez and others reported
on a positive effect found for ozone in cholesterol metabolism,
as well as in the stimulation of the antioxidative defense system.
(30) Other researchers from Cuba reported on clinical improvements
in humoral immunity for children who received ozone treatments.
(31)
Children with hearing loss benefited from ozone too, according
to Cuban researcher E. Basabe and his colleagues. (32) In a double-blind
study with 34 children, hearing loss was reduced in the ozone-treated
group. Ozonized oils were used in still other Cuban studies to
successfully treat candidiasis 33 and giardiasis, a parasitic
condition.(34) In yet another area, a report on the influence
of ozone treatment in sports medicine gave details on improved
aerobic performance in individuals receiving blood treatment
and rectal insufflation of ozone.35 The allotrope's effects on
intracellular metabolism and utilization of free fatty acids
were credited here. An Italian paper seemed to back this up.
E. Riva Sanseverino and P. Catellacci of the University of Bologna's
Institute of Human Physiology summarized their findings thus:
(38)
"On
the basis of the circulatory and biochemical positive effects
of ... oxygen-ozone therapy, a study was programmed
in
order to check if physical activity in humans is improved by
treatment with medical ozone administered by means of ... AHT.
Preliminary observations indicate that physical activity, performed
12- 24 hours after one or several administrations of medical
ozone, is improved by 8-12 percent."
Other reports at Lille concerned dermatology in Russia, and
how ozone is being successfully used there37; and ozone's disinfectant
uses in oral surgery. (38,39) So the wide-spectrum applicability
of ozone therapy was certainly in evidence at the meeting.
This is not to say that ozone's problems with acceptability by
the mainstream were ignored at the Lille symposium. V. Bocci,
of Italy's University of Siena Institute of General Physiology,
acknowledged these in a general talk on ozone therapy. This modality
is still only used legally in a handful of countries and American
states, and Bocci, in a realistic overview of the therapy's status
today, suggested some reasons why.(24)
First, Bocci feels, the biological basis for ozone's therapeutic
effectiveness needs to be further clarified. More study is definitely
needed, but with a lack of support from the pharmaceutical industry,
there's the ever-present funding problem. Bocci acknowledged
too that reports of ozone's benefits have at times tended toward
the subjective and anecdotal; this is a consequence of the fact
that clinical experience with ozone, although vast, has remained
limited to private practice. Bocci also acknowledges two other
factors that have not worked in medical ozone's favor--unfortunately,
some practitioners have used this modality improperly; and people
are prejudiced against the concept of ozone because they have
in mind the pollutant type.
What the Future Holds
Despite these problems, Bocci's assessment of ozone therapy
today was an upbeat one. The general sense of his presentation
was that this is a therapy that has already contributed so
much, and that in the future will benefit people even more,
providing some interesting investigative work along the way.
These were some of his final remarks:
" ...Ozonated autohemotherapy performed with an optimized procedure
represents a powerful therapeutic approach. Its main advantages
are the lack of toxicity, often a feeling of well-being, and
the equilibrated, although slow, stimulation of cytokine production
accompanied by improved oxygenation and metabolism. Both in
the treatment of neoplasia, particularly after chemotherapy,
and of chronic viral diseases, the frequent report of well-being
after treatment is relevant because the quality of life of
these patients is generally poor. We are planning to investigate
the reason for euphoria and we believe that it may be due to
an immune-neuroendocrine response elicited by the ozonated
blood.
"
On clinical grounds there is also the need to carry out extensive
and well-controlled clinical trials in several diseases, including
HIV infection. The treatment is simple to execute, safe, far
less expensive than comparable procedures, and could be carried
out easily... in Third-World countries, where it could be applied
also to several parasitic diseases." 24
In short, Bocci is optimistic about the future of ozone. He
cites increased precision in ozone dosing, with reproducible
delivery systems, as a plus for this healing technique. And
he says that ozone is now considered a cytokine inducer, with
immunorestoration potential. Indeed, the studies--both his
own and those of other researchers--are there to back up this
last contention. (16, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
As the century draws to a close, this modality should become
increasingly visible. The public is growing disenchanted with
toxic and problematic "magic bullet" remedies, and
more interested in holistic and natural approaches to health
care. So it's only a matter of time before ozone comes into
its own.
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1. Gary Null interview with Dr. John Pittman, 2/23/95.
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3. Gary Null interview with Dr. Stanley Beyerle. 2/23/95.
4. M.S. Harken, "Factors influencing the ozone interaction
of enteric viruses in effluent." Ozone: Science and Engineering.1985,
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5. Gary Null's interview with Nathaniel Altman. 4/13/95.
6. Medical doctors interested in learning the technique can
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