Ozone Therapy
Ozone therapy is a unique form of therapy that both heals and detoxifies at the same time. It is used to treat a variety of chronic disease including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Lyme disease, chronic hepatitis, herpes, chronic fatigue states, chemical sensitivity, macular degeneration, chronic bladder conditions, colitis, auto-immune diseases, chronic pain syndromes, Crohn’s disease and many other conditions.
What is ozone?
The oxygen you breathe is present in the air as a pair of oxygen atoms. This is the most stable form of oxygen and it’s colorless. Ozone is a blue form of oxygen (it’s what makes the sky blue), and unlike regular oxygen, it is composed of three oxygen atoms instead of two. It is the addition of the third oxygen atom that makes ozone “supercharged” oxygen and gives it all of its remarkable medical properties.
The use of ozone to treat various medical conditions was first developed in Germany in the early 1950’s. Today, medical ozone therapy is common throughout Europe and its use has gradually been spreading in the United States over the last 25 years.
What’s the history of Ozone Therapy?
Despite its dubious status in the USA as an “alternative” treatment, for the past 150 years Ozone Therapy has been thoroughly studied and widely utilized throughout Europe and Asia. For patients in the United States who encounter it for the first time, it may seem like an interesting and curious treatment--it seems so simple, natural and effective, that one wonders why so few doctors in the United States use it.
As a matter of fact, even though it is statistically one of the safest medical treatments known, until relatively recently, Ozone Therapy was illegal in many states and patients had to travel to Mexico to find American doctors who practiced Integrative Medicine and whose specialization included Ozone Therapy.
The reasons for this negativity and resistance to ozone in the US are entirely political and commercial, as many disruptive innovations encounter, and have nothing to do with what is good for patient care.
Ozone is toxic, isn’t it?
Anything, including water and oxygen, is toxic if given in amounts that exceed the body’s capacity to utilize it. Ozone is found naturally in the body. The white blood cells make it as part of the immune response. Pure medical grade ozone, when it is used according to the established medical guidelines, has a safety record that is unparalleled.
What does ozone do that makes it helpful medically?
Ozone has five properties that account for why it works so well not only for macular degeneration, but also for most other chronic age-related conditions as well:
- Ozone is a potent regulator of the immune system. This means that when the immune system is overactive (as in auto-immune disease), ozone will calm it down. Conversely, when the immune system is underactive as in cancer, AIDS and chronic infections, ozone will stimulate it. This unique ability of ozone stems from its action on the membranes of white blood cells that causes them to produce immune related messenger molecules called cytokines. Examples of cytokines are gamma interferon, interleukin-2, colony stimulating factor and TNF-alpha, just to name a few.
- Ozone stimulates increased uptake of oxygen by stimulating the enzyme diphosphoglycerate (DPG). DPG enables the release of oxygen from the hemoglobin molecule so that it can be taken up into the cell. In the absence of an adequate amount of DPG, our cells become starved for oxygen. This is a common problem in diabetics. Ozone stimulates oxygen metabolism by empowering your red blood cells with greater cellular energy derived from glycolysis. This also increases the ability of your red blood cells to deliver greater quantity of oxygen to your tissues. This not only increases your body’s ability to regenerate new tissues, it directly attacks bacteria, who are anaerobic and are negatively affected in an oxygen-rich environment.
- Ozone improves circulation. It does this by enhancing the flow characteristics of blood as a liquid. This effect enables more of the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin to reach the capillaries where ultimately the cells will receive more of the oxygen they require. Many patients with chronic inflammatory conditions have impaired circulation.
- Ozone increases antioxidant protection more than any other therapy including vitamin C. Most people with chronic disease have deficient antioxidant defenses.
- Ozone is a powerful mitochondrial stimulant. The fundamental underlying cause behind all degenerative disease from diabetes to heart disease to cancer is decreased mitochondrial energy production. Ozone can often correct this problem. Every cell in your body is dependent on ATP from which it derives the energy it needs to perform its functions. ATP is generated in mitochondria. Therefore, if your cells have more ATP, they function better. From cells that make collagen, to cells that make your hormones, or make natural antioxidants, or detox your blood--everything is dependent on the health of your mitochondria. Ozone is better at supporting the health of your mitochondria than any other known substance.
What are the general medical applications of Ozone Therapy?
Regenerative
Ozone injection into the knee
By stimulating mitochondria, ozone supports and accelerates the body’s natural ability to heal damaged tissue and regenerate healthy tissue. Examples include ozone injections to heal damaged joints. It accomplishes this by stimulating the mitochondria of cells that are actively involved in regeneration such as stem cells, the cells that generate new collagen in a damaged joint or those that form new bones in the case of bone damage.
Infectious Disease
Ozone attacks infections by bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses by attacking the cellular membranes (walls) of these microbes. All bacteria fungi, yeast and viruses are susceptible.
Ozone also strongly stimulates the body’s natural immune defenses, increasing your generation of interferon, tumor necrosis factor, Interleukin-2 and other cytokines. All of these are essential in a healthy immune response to microbial infection attacks.
This form of physiological therapy is called Oxidative Therapy.
Cancer
Ozone attacks malignant cells and protects healthy cells. It can therefore be a powerful adjunctive therapy to chemotherapy. This is also a form of Oxidative Therapy.
As a Detox and Antioxidant Agent
Ozone stimulates the body’s natural ability to generate its own antioxidants. This is particularly important for the health of the two organs that generate more oxidative activity than all other organs, namely, your liver and brain. This powerful antioxidative response by our bodies and has proven effective in subduing the overproduction of inflammatory cells such as those associated with asthma and diabetes, as well as other painful inflammatory diseases like arthritis, fibromyalgia and others.
As An Anti-Aging Agent
Aging and the diseases of aging are caused primarily by decreased oxygen utilization. This decrease leads to the excessive free radical production that produces the pathology that results in organ breakdown and degenerative disease. Decreased oxygen utilization is caused by mitochondrial and other factors, and exerts its effect by causing a decrease in NAD+ as well as the NAD+/NADH ratio. The decreasing NAD/NADH ratio spirals downward in a vicious cycle. We call this process “aging”.
Ozone therapy is effective for so many disease including the infirmities of aging because it normalizes this ratio.
How is ozone given administered medically?
Ozone therapy should only be used by professionals who have been fully trained in its use.
Intravenous (IV)
Bright red ozonated blood is returned to the body.
Major Autohemotherapy (MAH) is the most common form of administration, and in most cases the most effective way ozone is administered. The patient sits in a chair and has from 6-12 ounces of blood removed into a sterilized bottle. Then ozone is injected into the bottle, and the bottle is gently shaken, allowing the red and white blood cells to take up the ozone. The ozonated blood is then returned to the body. The entire procedure takes about 30-40 minutes.
Most clinics combine ozone IV therapy with vitamin IV therapy for a synergistically wonderful impact on your overall health and wellbeing.
Injection
Ozone can be injected directly into joints and soft tissues.
Topical
Though ozone is powerfully effective when administered via an IV, It has a similar effect when applied internally or topically in the form of ozonated oils such as olive oil. (Nikola Tesla was the first to develop these medicinal oils for physicians). Water can also be ozonated for drinking and bathing.
Limb Bagging
Limb bagging for diabetic ulcer
Ozone gas, at precise concentrations, can be infused into a bag that is encapsulating a limb (“limb bagging”), or used in ozone saunas.
Insufflation
Ozone can be infused directly into body cavities (rectal/colon, vaginal, ears, sinuses, bladder), which is called “insufflation”.
The Results
In each of these methods, the ozone treats localized infections, and supports an accelerated healing of the inflamed tissue. The bottom line is that ozone therapy is safe, natural and works physiologically to eradicate all sorts of infections and boost your overall health and wellbeing.
Is Ozone Therapy For Me?
This is a decision for you to make with a doctor who is trained and experienced in the medical use of ozone. Some conditions simply will not clear up unless ozone is used, and of course many conditions will clear up without ozone. Because of its many therapeutic properties, ozone can be used as part of a therapeutic plan for almost every disease.
It is invaluable in the treatment of heart disease and circulatory disorders. Chronic infections such as hepatitis C, herpes, Lyme disease and its co-infections and AIDS respond very favorably to ozone. It is also very helpful in chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, cancer, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, heart disease and autoimmune diseases. Additional health benefits include:
- Anti-Aging
- Boost of the immune system
- Increased energy production in your cells
- Reduces the oxidation of your body
- Reduces the level of acidity of your body
- Kills bacteria and viruses in acute and chronic infections
- Stimulates white blood cell production
It is important to realize that ozone therapy is not a panacea or some kind of magic bullet. Although it is often an indispensable modality, it is seldom effective by itself. In the great majority of cases, it must be combined with an individualized program of other alternative and natural therapies, such as nutrition and detoxification.
How much does Ozone Therapy Cost?
IV Ozone (MAH) $249
Sinus Insufflation $75
Limbbagging $100
Please schedule a consultation with Glendale Whole Health in order to create a treatment plan and package that’s right for you.
Who does this treatment at Glendale Whole Health?
Dr. Speller combines her extensive training in both allopathic and complementary and alternative medicine to offer whole-body care to her patients using a functional medicine approach—identifying and treating the root causes of illness or disease, while focusing on enhanced lifestyle choices to improve health. She recognizes the immense importance of balanced hormones and healthy sexual function for one’s health and fulfillment, and has therefore undergone extensive training in Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) with BioTe Medical as well as with the American Acadamy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M). Dr. Speller is a Certified Provider of the Institute For Functional Medicine (IFM), and was personally trained in Ozone Therapy techniques by Dr. Frank Shallenberger, the leading expert in the medical use of ozone in the United States. She is happy to offer an ever-increasing range of treatment modalities to improve health within a functional medicine framework.
Ready to experience the benefits of Ozone Therapy? Click here to book your appointment now or call (818) 551-0464!
