The use of ozone shows an important progression in the field of disinfecting, sterilization and deodorization because it is a natural gas, which uses no chemicals and leaves no dangerous chemical residue, making it the most healthy and effective method.

In a hospital setting, the main medium of contagion by infectious diseases is the air. The patient is a carrier of bacteria that affect healthy people, and they deposit bacteria on the floor, clothing, furniture and bandages etc.

Not only does this pose a health risk to staff and visitors to a hospital, but the patients themselves, whose recovery may be set back by contracting new viruses or bacterial growths. It is therefore obvious that the sterilization of the air in any hospital setting is vital to the health of the patients, staff and visitors and infection control throughout the hospital.

The following are some of the most important uses of ozone in nursing homes, hospitals and clinics:

Ozone, a highly active form of oxygen, possesses unique properties which are being defined and applied to biological systems a

s well as to clinical practice. As a molecule containing a large excess of energy, Ozone manifests bactericidal, virucidal and fungicidal actions which makes it a treatment in other conditions.

Ozone, best known for its protective role in the earth's ecological harmony, and for its interaction at ground level with industrial pollutants,

has unique biological properties which have been investigated for applications in various medical fields.

As early as the first World War, Ozone's bactericidal properties were used to treat infected wounds, mustard gas burns and fistulas.

The first treatment attempts, however, were hampered by technological difficulties. Medical Ozone generators have since been developed and refined.

They differ from industrial generators in their capacity to deliver the purest Ozone-Oxygen mixtures in needed amounts.

A critical advance in medical ozone technology was the development, in the early 60's of plastics which could adequately carry this mixture

and permit proper administration to patients. Ozone is now exponentially increasing in use by a diversity of therapeutic groups.

BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES

The oxygen atom exists in nature in several forms:

Ozone is a powerful oxidant. Of importance to biological systems is Ozone's interaction with tissue, especially blood.

These dynamics are especially relevant for medical applications because some of the most practiced methods in Ozone therapy

involve the mixing of a small volume of whole blood with a pure ozone/oxygen mixture and subsequently returning it to the patient.

In this manner, it is calculated that the dose of Ozone administered will perform its therapeutic functions without disrupting blood composition.

The production of Ozone-Oxygen mixtures for human and veterinary applications is subject to important technical consideration.

Clinical Ozone generators regulate the flow of medical grade oxygen through high voltage tubes with outputs ranging from 4000V to 14,000V are capable of producing Ozone-Oxygen mixtures within concentration ranges extending to five percent, predicated by three variables:

1) The voltage applied. 2) The oxygen flow rate. 3) The electrode separation distance.

Since the half life of Ozone is 45 minutes at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, in two hours losing its concentration to 16% of its initial value,

it must be freshly generated for immediate use at the treatment site. The maximum dose generated is 5% Ozone to 95% oxygen.

Caution is needed not to mix ether and ozone, an especially reactive mixture.

Also, no Ozone should be taken if the following conditions are present: acute alcohol intoxication, recent heart attacks,

haemorrhage in any organ, pregnancy, hyperthyroidism, blood clots and Ozone allergy.

METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION, DOSAGE AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS EXTERNAL OZONE GAS APPLICATION

Ozone was first administered by application to external body surfaces. A.Wolff, in 1915, is credited for using local Ozone treatments

for wounds, fistulas, decubitus ulcers and osteomyelitis.

Today, specially designed plastic, enables the body to be comfortably encased in a space where a determined ratio of Oxygen to

Ozone is administered at a chosen flow rate.

Indication for external Ozone application include poorly healing wounds, burns, staphylococcal infections, fungal and radiation lesions,

herpes simplex and zoster, and gangrene diabetic or non-diabetic). Dosage is adjusted to the condition treated.

High Ozone concentrations are used for disinfection and cleaning, while low concentrations promote healing.

OZONE INSUFFLATION

Payr in 1935 and Augourg in 1936 first used Ozone-Oxygen mixtures in rectal insufflation.

The list of indications has expanded to include many conditions.

Inflammatory diseases of the bowel, Ozone promotes healing and restores the floral balance disturbed by harmful germs.

In a typical treatment, daily insufflations are applied starting with 50 ml and increasing as tolerated in increments until 500 ml are administered.

This technique is of use in the treatment of bowel infections associated with AIDS.

Microsporidia, a tiny, rarely detected parasite may be responsible for many cases of AIDS wasting illness this germ is susceptible to Ozone treatment.

MAJOR autohaemotherapy (AHT)

External Ozone applications produce local effects such as disinfection, wound healing or local circulatory enhancement.

Ozone in the circulation as in the technique of major autohaemotherapy, 50 to 100 ml of blood is drawn from the patient,

mixed with a dose of Ozone-Oxygen, then returned via the same intravenous catheter to the patient,

where the Ozonated blood is rapidly distributed to all tissues.

Blood infusions, Ozone exerts therapeutic actions locally; virucidal activity, Oxygenation, increased red cell fluidity

and promotes increased beneficial systemic activity. Of interest, patients report, after receiving this treatment,

experience feelings of well-being lasting for a few minutes to several hours.

MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS

Although the above techniques of ozone administration represent the majority of hospital or office based procedures, others deserve mention.

MINOR AUTOHAEMOTHERAPY

10 ml of venous blood is drawn from the patient, mixed with Ozone-Oxygen, then injected intramuscularly.

Listed indications include asthma, acne, some allergic conditions and some cases of arthritis.

OZONE IN WATER

Ozone is approximately ten times more soluble in water than oxygen. Mixed into water, the half-life of Ozone is nine to ten hours at pH 7 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

It may be rinsed orally in conditions such as thrush and periodontal disease, swallowed in cases of gastritis or stomach cancer, or irrigated in chronic bladder inflammation.

OZONE OINTMENTS - CLICK HERE for more

Ozonated olive oil provides long term, low dose exposure of Ozone to tissues, and it may be used topically or consumed by drinking small amounts of used on salads.

HYDROTHERAPY - CLICK HERE for more

Ozonated water bubbled in warm baths provides stimulation of local circulation and a disinfectant action to varicosities,

circulatory disorders and dermatological conditions (eczema, ulcers, psoriasis, etc.)

METABOLIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF OZONE

Pulmonary effects of Ozone in low doses include metabolic activation of lung cells.

Below 0.30 ppm the probability of Ozone traversing the respiratory epithelium and entering the systemic circulation is so low,

very few studies have attempted to measure these effects. The technique of major autohemotherapy and others that involve

the direct introduction of Ozone in the circulation, shows that Ozone exposure increases metabolic activity of red blood cells.

According to other researchers, the direct intravascular injection of pure Ozone/Oxygen mixtures results in the following response;

an activation of enzymes involved in oxygen radical scavenging, releasing oxygen to the tissues.

BACTERICIDAL, FUNGICIDAL AND VIRUCIDAL ACTION

The inhibition and lethal effects of Ozone on disease producing organisms have been observed since the latter part of the nineteenth century.

Ozone is a strong germicide needing only a few micrograms per litre for measurable action.

Viruses differ in their speed of destruction by Ozone.

Ozone's bactericidal effects centre on disruption of envelope integrity. There is interaction with proteins as well.

The effect of Ozone on E. coli, is penetration of the cell membrane. In clinical treatment Ozone is toxic to infecting organisms and not to the patient.

Ozone's fungicidal effects. In one study, Candida cell growth inhibition with Ozone was greatly dependent on phases of their growth,

budding cells exhibiting the most sensitivity to its presence.

Viruses are parasites at the genetic level. Lipid-containing viruses are sensitive to treatment with Ozone.

Viruses containing lipid coatings include the Herpes viruses, a large family grouping the Simplex, Zoster,

Cytomegalovirus and Epsteinn-Barr viruses, mumps, measles, influenza, rabies and the HIV virus.

In those clinical applications which make use of external or body cavity application of Ozone, inactivation of micro-organisms,

bacteria, viruses or fungi, proceeds by a variety of different methods. The treatment of burns, superficial infections,

ulcers and abscesses is approached by this method, which is the absorption of Ozone through the skin and the mucous membranes.

Since very little free Ozone remains in the solution due to its high reactivity, its products interact with circulation

as well as tissue-bound viruses, thus inactivating them.

Ozone blood treatment lessens clinical severity or duration. Thus, therapeutic benefits have been noted in hepatitis, acute and chronic, and herpes.

In chronic viral infections-Cytomegalic, Epstein-Barr and Retrovirus (AIDS) among others,

blood Ozonation administered during viral cycles or in periods of clinical detection are, through the production of co-factors,

inhibitory to viral replication, modify immune function, and are a tool in inducing viral suppression.

of the disturbed metabolism of cancer cells.

Since the first biochemical hypothesis of cancer was proposed by Warburg: All tumours have higher rates of destruction

with Oxygen than do non-tumour cells. It was for this that Warburg won the Nobel Prize in 1931.

Cancer cells are less able to compensate for the oxidative challenge of Ozone than normal cells.

There are many clinical and anecdotal reports of Ozone usually major or minor autohaemotherapy, at times prescribed

on a daily basis for several weeks, applied to the treatment of various cancer conditions.

Focusing efforts on using ozone as an adjunct to radiation or chemotherapy renders a great degree of treatment success.

VIRAL INACTIVATION BY OZONE

The inactivation of viral particles by Ozone takes place by a variety of methods. Viruses, unlike cells, lack enzymes designed to repair

injured DNA or RNA and are destroyed by this process.

IMMUNOLOGICAL PATHWAYS

In recent years it has been discovered that nitric oxide, a gas under atmospheric conditions traditionally associated with toxicity,

actually exerts essential biological functions.

It has a free radical structure, is short lived and is an eager electron contributor. Aside from its activity as a neurotransmitter

and as an antihypertensive agent, nitric oxide appears to be an essential component of the mechanisms by which macrophages

become activated to destroy tumour cells, bacteria and viruses.

Macrophages, scavengers of the immune system, become activated to creating minuscule amounts of nitric oxide using arginine,

and the enzyme nitric oxide synthase. Without nitric oxide, macrophages remain idle. It has also been shown that nitric oxide is directly toxic to tumour cells.

It is in this context - through the skin's absorption of Ozone/Oxygen that remarkable results have been shown.

The use of a cabinet of airtight suit enclosure, while using Ozone/Oxygen generated with Oxygen or air has demonstrated a

high percentage of absorption through the two square yards of skin.

This passage of Ozone/Oxygen through the skin takes place when the skin is wet.

Ozone, with the mobilization of its own free radical structure begins the activation of nitric oxide macrophages thus promoting their purifying mission.

Ozone's interaction with biological systems and its activities in harmful germ inactivation are varied, and complex.

The recent discoveries that nitric oxide and carbon monoxide assume crucial functions in regulating metabolic and physiological health, should give new research drive to the therapeutic properties of Ozone.

• Ozone/Oxygen combined with
• Proper nutrition
• Exercise
• A positive mental attitude, can bring about superior results in the maintenance of optimum health when supervised by a well trained physician.

In 1953, 40 years ago, the research of Dr. Harry Goldblatt was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

His research confirmed that the lack of oxygen plays a major role in causing cells to become cancerous.

Dr. Albert Wall also determined that "disease is due to a deficiency in the oxidation (burning) process of the body,

leading to an accumulation of toxins. These toxins are burned in normal metabolic functioning."

Dr. Wendell Hendricks of the Hendricks Research Foundation wrote "Cancer is a condition within the body where oxidation

has become so depleted that the body cells have degenerated beyond physiological control."

The important part of what Dr. Hendricks said is that you can "remove the cause of tumours by oxidizing the body toxins.

" Oxidizing body toxins can only be done with sufficient oxygen.

SUMMARY

In closing, Ozone application for infections, burns, dental, intestinal conditions, and circulatory disorders is the most effective

and safe way of treating these problems. As for blood Ozonation, research has proven its effectiveness in improving:

3) The inactivation and/or destruction of viral, bacterial, fungal, and yeast infections.

Extract from HYPERLINK (Intranet-medical facilities)

At least 52% of severely injured patients brought to the trauma/casualty section of the Johannesburg Hospital (JH) are HIV-positive, compared with the 1990 figure of 0.5 percent. What this means in real terms is that six of every 10 patients admitted to the unit for treatment, for what are usually very serious injuries, are more than likely to succumb to the virus and will ultimately die prematurely. Professor Ken Bafford said the statistics were gathered on an annual basis during short "blind" tests conducted in the trauma/casualty department. During these month-long studies, blood is taken from every critically injured patient brought into the unit. The samples are stored until the end of the month when they are all tested, while no names are ever recorded. Professor Bafford said most of the patients passing through the unit were between the ages of 16 and 36 years with twice as many men as women. As this age group is the most sexually active, it did not follow that there would be a similar incidence in the rest of the community. Dr. Liz Floyd, Director of the Gauteng AIDS program, said one possible explanation for the findings at JH was some members of that particular age group were prone to living on the edge. She added current figures emanating from studies at antenatal clinics showed 30 percent of women in the 20 to 30 year age group were HIV-positive. However, she said international agencies were testing the validity of figures drawn from such studies. Dr. Floyd said figures for employees workers at local gold and platinum mines in the same age group, pointed to an HIV-positive status of about 40 to 50%, while sex workers showed an alarming rate of infection at 60%. She said the incidence of HIV infection dropped off in women around age of 25 and in men around the age of 30 years.

The above is, to put it mildly, dramatic. It alerts the "Infection Control Personnel" of the dangers to which all health-care workers are exposed. Indeed it is their God given right to be afforded all the available protection devices available in the market.

Remember: prevention is always cheaper than cure!

Disclaimer

Important:
Ozone use covers such a broad spectrum of applications viz. agriculture, aquaculture, water and air purification, medical therapy, industrial process, sanitation, sterilization, etc.
Therefore be aware that-:
All Eco-Tec material is provided for information only and should not be taken as medical advice nor should any action or inaction be taken solely on its contents. Eco-Tec presents information, opinions and research believed to be correct and sound from expert authorities in many fields but their accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Please consult appropriate health professionals on any other matter relating to your health and wellbeing or consult a competent professional for answers to other specific needs.