Ozone therapy

Ozone in the stratosphere deflects harmful solar radiation, but ground level ozone has well-studied and cumulative deleterious health effects.^[1][2] The use of ozone therapy is advocated as a form of alternative medicine but there is no scientific evidence supporting its use in treatment of specific diseases.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} After a review of extant science, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sharply questioned the effectiveness or safety of ozone generators sold as air cleaners.^[8] Ozone has a capacity to oxidize organic compounds,^[9] and has well-known toxic effects on the respiratory tract when present in smog.^[10][11]

Historical origins

In 1856, just 16 years after its discovery, ozone was first used in a health care setting to disinfect operating rooms and sterilize surgical instruments.^[12] By the end of the 19th century the use of ozone to disinfect drinking water of bacteria and viruses was well established in mainland Europe.^[12][13] In 1892 The Lancet published an article describing the administration of ozone for treatment of tuberculosis.^[14] In 1902 another article was published claiming success in treating chronic middle ear deafness with ozone.^[15] Ozone was used during the First World War to disinfect wounds.^[16]

Uses

Some marketers of ozone generators make fantastic promotional claims that ozone is a miraculous cure for all disease including cancer and AIDS, but these claims remain unproven. Ozone can disinfect surfaces and water if it is administered for at least two hours at a concentration of 1200 parts per million. It has been proposed as a treatment for AIDS and though it does deactivate the viral particles outside the body, there is no evidence of benefits to living patients.^[17]

Summarizing the substantial and growing body of study results showing deleterious health effects, in 1976, and reiterated in 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reflects the scientific consensus that ozone is a toxic gas which has, as yet, no demonstrated safe medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy. One possible reason, noted by the FDA, is that in order for ozone to be effective as a germicide, it must be present in a concentration far greater than can be safely tolerated by man or other animals.^[18]

Though promoted as a treatment for cancer by some advocates, the American Cancer Foundation has advised cancer patients against using ozone therapy.^[19][20] Other industry opinion leaders in the UK and Australia as recently as 2001 also suggest that knowledge regarding the potential benefit and harm of ozone in cancer patients is insufficient. Therefore such therapy can’t be recommended as an alternative form of treatment for cancer patients.^[21]

Ozone has been suggested for use in dentistry, though overall the existing evidence does not support its use.^[22]

Safety

Much of the concern related to ozone therapy revolves around the safety of blood ozonation. It is well established that when inhaled by mammals, ozone reacts with compounds in tissues lining the lungs and triggers a cascade of pathological effects. Saul Green has argued that since ozone has the capacity to oxidize organic compounds in an atmospheric environment, it should also logically oxidize blood components and endogenous human tissues.^[23] When infused into human blood, ozone produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals,^[24] an over-abundance of which is known to cause oxidative stress and cell damage, and is implicated in the progression of some degenerative diseases. High levels of inhaled ozone is known to be toxic, though single-dose inhalation of lower levels is not and may be beneficial in the treatment of certain diseases.^[25]

Presence in the body

Arguments have been presented both for^[26][27] and against^[28][29] the body producing ozone endogenously.

See also

• Air ioniser
• Ozone health effects

References

1. ^ Ozone - Good Up High Bad Nearby http://www.epa.gov/air/oaqps/gooduphigh/
2. ^ Ground-level Ozone http://www.epa.gov/air/ozonepollution
3. ^ "Oxygenation Therapy: Unproven Treatments for Cancer and AIDS". Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine, 1997. http://naturalsolutionsradio.com/articles/article.html?id=19147&filter=topic. 
4. ^ "CHAPTER TWENTY QUACKERY" (PDF). prostate-help.org. http://www.cancer.prostate-help.org/download/pilgrim/20qak.pdf. 
5. ^ "Quackbusters Inc.: Hot On The Heels Of Medical Hucksters". The Scientist magazine for the life sciences. http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:1s2oQ38QZl4J:www.the-scientist.com/article/display/8412/. 
6. ^ Goldacre, Ben (June 26, 2003). "So what has ozone ever done for us?". London: The Guardian Unlimited. http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,,984960,00.html. Retrieved May 20, 2010. 
7. ^ Dianzani F (1996). "The dilemma of exposing or burying a complementary medical approach". J. Biol. Regul. Homeost. Agents 10 (2–3): 29. PMID 9250884. 
8. ^ http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html
9. ^ Razumovskii & Zaikov, Ozone and its Reactions With Organic Compounds. Elsevier, New York. 1984
10. ^ "Health and Environmental Effects of Ground-Level Ozone". U.S. EPA, July 1997. http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/naaqsfin/o3health.html. 
11. ^ Folinsbee LJ (1981). "Effects of ozone exposure on lung function in man: a review". Rev Environ Health 3 (3): 211–40. PMID 7330364. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Chemical Technology Encyclopedia; Barnes & Noble 1968 vol 1 pp 82-3
13. ^ Suchkov BP (June 1964). "[Study of the Ozonization of Drinking Water Containing Pathogenic Bacteria and Viruses]" (in Russian). Gig Sanit 29: 22–9. PMID 14235449. 
14. ^ "The Internal Administration of Ozone in the Treatment of Phthisis". Lancet II: 1180-1181. 1892. 
15. ^ Stoker, G (1902). "Ozone in Chronic Middle Ear Deafness". Lancet II: 1187-1188. 
16. ^ Stoker, George (1916). "The Surgical Uses of Ozone". Lancet II: 712. 
17. ^ Green, S (1997). "Oxygenation Therapy: Unproven Treatments for Cancer and AIDS". Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/oxygen.html. 
18. ^ "Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Vol 8 section 801.415". United States Food & Drug Administration. 2011-04-01. http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=801.415. Retrieved 2011-10-04. 
19. ^ "Questionable methods of cancer management: Hydrogen peroxide and other 'hyperoxygenation' therapies". CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 43 (1): 47–56. 1993. PMID 8422605.  edit
20. ^ "Questionable methods of cancer management: Electronic devices". CA: a cancer journal for clinicians 44 (2): 115–127. 1994. PMID 8124604.  edit
21. ^ Ernst E (January 2001). "A primer of complementary and alternative medicine commonly used by cancer patients". Med. J. Aust. 174 (2): 88–92. PMID 11245510. http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/174_02_150101/ernst/ernst.html. 
22. ^ Azarpazhooh, A.; Limeback, H. (2008). "The application of ozone in dentistry: A systematic review of literature". Journal of Dentistry 36 (2): 104–116. doi:10.1016/j.jdent.2007.11.008. PMID 18166260.  edit
23. ^ "Oxygenation therapy: Unproven treatments for Cancer and AIDS". Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 1997. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/oxygen.html. 
24. ^ Bocci V, Valacchi G, Corradeschi F et al. (1998). "Studies on the biological effects of ozone: 7. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) after exposure of human blood to ozone". J. Biol. Regul. Homeost. Agents 12 (3): 67–75. PMID 9795834. 
25. ^ Bocci, V.; Borrelli, E.; Travagli, V.; Zanardi, I. (2009). "The ozone paradox: Ozone is a strong oxidant as well as a medical drug". Medicinal Research Reviews 29 (4): 646–682. doi:10.1002/med.20150. PMID 19260079.  edit
26. ^ Wentworth P; McDunn JE; Wentworth AD et al. (December 2002). "Evidence for antibody-catalyzed ozone formation in bacterial killing and inflammation". Science 298 (5601): 2195–9. doi:10.1126/science.1077642. PMID 12434011. 
27. ^ Babior BM, Takeuchi C, Ruedi J, Gutierrez A, Wentworth P (March 2003). "Investigating antibody-catalyzed ozone generation by human neutrophils". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100 (6): 3031–4. doi:10.1073/pnas.0530251100. PMC 152239. PMID 12601145. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=152239. 
28. ^ Kettle AJ, Winterbourn CC (2005). "Do neutrophils produce ozone? An appraisal of current evidence". Biofactors 24 (1–4): 41–5. doi:10.1002/biof.5520240105. PMID 16403962. http://iospress.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0951-6433&volume=24&issue=1&spage=41. 
29. ^ Smith LL (August 2004). "Oxygen, oxysterols, ouabain, and ozone: a cautionary tale". Free Radic. Biol. Med. 37 (3): 318–24. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2004.04.024. PMID 15223065. 

External links

• Ozone Therapy at the Open Directory Project
• US EPA report questioning effectiveness or safety of ozone generators sold as air cleaners