Awaremed Medical Institute

Ozone

MEDICAL OZONE/OXYGEN THERAPY WHAT IS OZONE THERAPY?

The chemical gas Ozone was first discovered in 1840, but it was not until the First World War when Ozone gas mixtures were employed by German surgeons to heal wounds and fistulae that the medical application of Ozone therapy actually began. It was later also found to be an excellent de-odorizor, which considering the time of almost 100 years ago, was an amazing benefit in itself. Before the era of modern surgery and medicine one of the most troublesome problems for primitive medicine was the "ichorous stench" of many large cancers and infected, gangrenous wounds. The clinical application of Ozone/Oxygen mixtures rapidly and effectively solved this vexing problem. Technically, medical Ozone therapy is a form of Bio Oxidation therapy, but since Ozone has such special properties it is commonly discussed separately. Ozone was subsequently applied to improving the air quality within and around municipal slaughter-houses in Europe and is still the main and preferred method for water purification in many European countries. It is preferred because the residue left in the drinking water does not have the toxicity or cancer causing properties of the chlorine compounds used in the U.S. Since its slow beginnings, steady progress has been made in understanding the chemical properties, various medical applications and potential human and environmental toxicity of Ozone gas mixtures.1 Today it is medically applied using several techniques and in varying, but very low concentrations. At the beginning of this new millennium (2001) there are active Medical Ozone Societies in Germany, Russia, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and a growing International Ozone Society that includes a number of European trained and certified American physicians currently employing Medical Ozone in the United States.

IS OZONE TOXIC?

Ozone is one chemical form or "allotrop" of Oxygen. Molecular Oxygen consists of two atoms of Oxygen (O + O) forming one di-atomic molecule of Oxygen (O2). Ozone consists of three atoms of Oxygen, which form the tri-atomic molecule of Ozone (O3). While it is true that Ozone can be toxic, it is also just as true that Ozone is essential for life on earth. The high altitude Ozone layer, scientifically called the Ozonosphere, actually protects us from the toxic effects of cancer causing high energy ultraviolet light from the sun. In modern society this layer is being seriously depleted due to environmental air pollution, with a resultant increase in the incidence of skin cancers, cataracts, lung diseases and immune deficiency-dysregulation diseases. Interestingly, it is because the Ozonosphere is being depleted that we are seeing more Ozone show up in air pollution closer to the ground.

The higher energy Ultraviolet sunlight passing through the now defective high altitude Ozonosphere causes atmospheric oxygen to react with man-made nitric oxides from fossil fuels and this leads to the production of toxic levels of Ozone in the air we breathe. Thus, the amount of Ozone in our air is actually a measure of the overall degree of other pollutants, but not really a cause of pollution in itself.

Like anything used in medicine, Ozone has both beneficial and potential toxic effects. The common question about Ozone toxicity usually has to do with inhaling excessive Ozone gas. Ozone gas is NEVER used for inhalation in medical therapy! In fact, very specific and strict avoidance of any inhalation of Ozone is practiced when Medical Ozone/Oxygen therapy is used. In reality, when Ozone is used medically it is actually administered as a gas mixture of Ozone and Oxygen. Ozone concentrations used in the medical mixture are delivered in the microgram (Homeopathic or thousandths of a milligram) range, depending on the specific clinical effect desired. Thus, the toxicity of modern Medical Ozone therapy is usually limited to minor irritation or pain at the injection site (see below).

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