Medical Society for Ozone Therapy What you need to know about ozone/oxygen therapy. From: The Use of Ozone in Medicine Second Revised Edition First English Edition S. Rilling/R. Viebahn 1987 What is ozone? Ozone is an oxygen compound which also occurs in nature. In fact, it is known to almost everyone on account of its unpleasant odor which is often produced after a heavy thunderstorm, in mountains, by the seaside, or when artificial (ultraviolet) sunlight is applied. Approximately 30 kilometers above the earth's surface, a layer of ozone is present, called the ozonosphere: it ensures that the damaging parts of the sun's high-energy UV radiation are filtered out before they reach us. It was this part of the atmosphere which made life on our planet possible at all! However, ozone has also come to our attention as a component of smog where it is produced as a result of the interaction between industrial waste gases (nitrogen and sulphur compounds) and oxygen in the air under the sun's influence: it can be used to measure the extent of pollution present in the environment. Apart from its name, this has absolutely nothing in common with medical ozone. How and where is ozone generally used? Most of the properties of ozone are shown in table 1, and these are applied throughout the world for the treatment (dressing) of drinking water and the regeneration of waste water - such as in Moscow (with the largest installation in the world), Singapore, Brussels/Belgium, Essen/Germany, Florence/Italy and Marseille/France. In Southern Germany, an installation of this type supplies more than two and a half million persons in the Stuttgart area with the very best drinking water from Lake Constance (Bodensee) - pretreated with ozone! Why is ozone in medicine, what disease are treated with it and how is it applied? In addition to the properties described, the following are particularly important when ozone is used medically: its bactericidal effect - it destroys bacteria its fungicidal effect - it acts against all fungus infections (on the skin and mucous membranes) its virucidal effect - viruses become ineffective against ozone protected cells. In addition to this, ozone possesses a number of other properties in the biological system, whose effect may be described as that of improving the circulation. This means that ozone has a positive influence on the oxygen supply and oxygen-processing facilities in the tissue. As a result, the medical application of ozone can be for the following diseases: Infected wounds, decubitus ulcers (bedsores in chronically ill patients), badly healing wounds ('open leg') and similar complaints, in addition to fungal infections (nowadays widespread). It is also effective in the case of diseases caused by bacteria and viruses, such as for example herpes simplex (a highly infectious outbreak of small blisters on the skin) and herpes zoster (shingles, inflammation and blisters surrounding the abdomen), as well as jaundice (yellow fever) in all its different form. Another application of medical ozone which is extremely important also belongs to this category, i.e. that in circulatory disturbances ('senile' gangrene, open black rot, smoker's leg, leg sores, etc.), but naturally also for circulatory disturbances in conjunction with arteriosclerosis and diabetes! Medical ozone is a mixture of (at maximum) 5 parts pure ozone gas and 95 part oxygen (for external application only!) and a mixture consisting of only 0.05 parts ozone (and therefore 99.95 parts oxygen) when applied as an agent for improving circulation and accelerating healing tendencies. The applications of medical ozone 1. Intraarterial application ((of the ozone/oxygen mixture): This is principally used in arterial circulatory disturbances. 2. Intestinal insufflation: This application has proved itself to be invaluable in mucous colitis (a fungal infection in the intestine) and fistulae (abnormal openings): this technique was already applied by the Austrian physician Payr in 1935 and the French therapist Aubourg in 1936. It had been discovered already at that time that the ozone content of the blood is increased after rectal ozone/oxygen gas application! 3. Intramuscular application: This method is prominent in the treatment of inflammatory infections and allergic diseases. 4. Major and minor autohemotherapy: Based on the studies and methods of Wehrli, one of the most famous modern therapists, H. Wolff, devoted his attention to these two technical applications from 1968 until his untimely death in 1980: he continuously demonstrated their efficacy in arthritis, hepatitis, allergies and herpes infections with a weakened reticuloendothelial system (RES). 5. Ozonized water: Is used in the field on dental medicine, e.g. for disinfection during surgery. 6. Intraarticular injection: in other words, injections into diseased joints, this is a method reserved for practical application in surgery and into diseased joints, this is a method reserved for practical orthopedics, e.g. in rheumatic complaints. 7. External application: Is indicated in cases of fungal infections, ulcus cruris (leg ulcers) and infected or badly healing wounds: the ozone/oxygen gas mixture is applied over the skin inside an ozone resistant plastic hood. The Present-day uses of ozone in Medicine Abscess Acne AIDS Allergies(hypersensitivity) Anal fissure Antiviral effect Cerebral sclerosis Circulatory disturbances, arterial Cirrhosis of the liver Climacterium (menopause) Constipation Cystitis Decubitus (Bedsores) Dermatology Dermatology/Allergology Dermatology/Proctology Fistulae Fungus-caused diseases Furunculosis Gangrene Gastroenterology Gerontology Hepatitis Herpes Hypercholinesteremia Mucous colitis Neurology Odontology (dental medicine) Oncology (tumours) Oncological additive (special additional cancer treatment) Orthopaedics Osteomyelitis (inflammation of the bone marrow) Parkinson's disease Polyarthritis Proctology, gynecology Radiology Raynaud's disease (attacks of Scars (after radiation) vascular cramp) Spondylitis (inflammation of Stomatitis (inflammation of the the vertebrae) mouth cavity) Sudeck's disease (vegetative Surgery distrophy in all joints) Surgery/Dermatology Thrombophlebitis (inflammation of the veins) Ulcus cruris (open leg sores) Urology Vascular surgery Wound healing disturbances Table 1 - The properties of ozone according to Rilling/Viebahn - Oxygen saturation - Disinfection (bacteria and germs) - Inactivation of viruses - Fungicide - Reduction of fetor (wound odor) - Reduction of taste - Elimination of fecal bacteria (Biochemical oxygen demand/Chemical oxygen demand reduction - Elimination of sulphur - Oxidation and flocculation of Mn and Fe - Oxidation of cyanide and phenol - Elimination of detergents