by Frank Shallenberger, MD
*Redacted from article by Frank Shallenberger, MD – This article reviews the nature of what medical grade ozone is, how it works in biological systems, and how it can be used to regenerate, alleviate pain and slow down the aging process. “The Ozone Miracle” book by Frank Shallenberger, MD.
Ozone = Triatomic Oxygen
Oxygen is an atom that cannot exist in a stabilized form as a single atom. This is because it does not have enough electrons to balance it out. So in order to provide stability, two oxygen atoms bond together in close proximity and share electrons. This molecule, called O2, is what is generally referred to when the word “oxygen” is used. O2 is the stable form of oxygen that exists in the atmosphere.
When an energetic force, such as electricity (lightening) or ultra-violet light (solar exposure), is imposed upon a molecule of O2, the two oxygen atoms are temporarily split apart into single oxygen atoms. Then, in a matter of nanoseconds these highly unstable oxygen atoms will pair up again and reform back into O2 molecules. But a small percentage of them will unite in a menage-a-trio known as ozone. Thus, ozone, referred to as O3, is a gaseous molecule which consists of three oxygen atoms all sharing the same electrons.
This is exactly what happens in a corona discharge ozone generator. Oxygen (O2) molecules go into the generator and are exposed to an electric spark. What emerges from the other end is a mixture of oxygen and ozone. The parameters of the generator can be set to produce a given amount of ozone in that mixture. In clinical circumstances the concentration of ozone in the final gas mixture is between 1-3%.
Ozone is a relatively unstable molecule. This is because there just are not enough electrons to go around to keep three oxygen atoms stabilized. There are enough for two atoms, but not three. This instability is exactly why ozone is so powerful – because it is driven to give off the extra oxygen atom so that it can be reduced to the stable O2 form. This of course requires getting electrons, and the best place for a single oxygen atom to get an electron in a cellular environment is from the double bonds found in lipids and amino acids. The reaction looks like this:
O3 + -C=C- -C-03-C- CO-CO2 -C=O+-C-O2
The resulting peroxides (-C-O2) are short chained, and can easily penetrate cellular membranes. There, they will exert their oxidizing effect of NADH by accepting its electrons, and thereby oxidizing it to NAD. The importance of this reaction will be discussed later. However, this is not the only reaction that can occur with ozone. As I mentioned above, it can also react with itself to be converted back into oxygen. In a matter of only minutes, ozone molecules can react with each other to form the more stable O2 molecule:
O3 + O3 302
This process is referred to as dismutation. It has been found that a glass container at room temperature ozone will dismutate at a rate of 50% every 45 minutes. In a plastic container it will dismutate even faster, at the rate of 50% every 30 minutes. This is important to know because once ozone has been generated it must be used quickly. It can’t be stored and used later. This fact somewhat limits the usefulness of ozone. I just can’t give my patient a bottle of ozone to take home with him, because within hours it will all have dismutated back into O2.
An important precaution to note here is that, with the exception of ozone generators that are strictly used for air or water purification, in no case should ozone destined to be used for medical applications ever be made from room air! The reason is that room air contains 20% nitrogen, and when this nitrogen passes through the energy chamber, it is converted to nitrous oxide and nitric oxide, both of which are toxic in even small doses. So it is imperative that only high quality pure oxygen be used to generate the ozone used for medical purposes.
What Scientific and Medical Research has taught us about ozone therapy
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- 1. Ozone therapy increases the delivery of oxygen to the cells. As we get older due to decreased circulation and other factors our cells get less oxygen. Sorry, that’s just a fact of life. But ozone therapy can offset that by delivering more of the good stuff to your cells.
- 2. Ozone therapy increases oxygen utilization. Not getting enough oxygen to the cells is bad enough. But as we get older our cells become less able to efficiently use the oxygen they get. In other words much of the oxygen gets wasted. In some people it’s as much as 50%! Ozone therapy has been known for years to improve the ability of the cells to use the oxygen they get. And thus, ozone therapy treats the single most important cause of all disease – the inability to adequately extract energy from the oxygen we breathe.
- 3. Ozone therapy stimulates cytokine function. Cytokines are the magic molecules that our immune systems use to control and eliminate infections and cancers. This is why ozone therapy is so effective for all of the so-called incurable infections including herpes, hepatitis B and C, flu viruses, and other viruses. It is also why when it is used in conjunction with antibiotics ozone therapy prevents one of the major problems we have in medicine today – antibiotic resistance.
- 4. Ozone therapy increases nitric oxide production. It would take an entire book for me to describe the importance of nitric oxide in the human body. It is critical for heart and circulatory health, blood pressure, immune function, and sexual function. Nitric oxide levels decrease under many conditions not the least of which is the process of aging itself. Ozone therapy can change all that.
- 5. Ozone therapy increases hemoxygenase-I (HO-I). HO-1 is what the body uses to protect us from the number one killer of men and women in North America – heart attacks and strokes. HO-1 is also anti-inflammatory.
- 6. Ozone therapy stimulates detoxification. Detoxification refers to all of those processes that go on in the cells, the liver, and the kidneys that remove toxic substances like the waste products that our own bodies produce, medications, heavy metals, and all the environmental chemicals I mentioned above. But here’s the problem. As we get older we start to lose the ability to effectively detoxify. The result is that the toxins build up and we start turning into our own little toxic waste dumps. Ozone therapy improves our ability to detoxify.
- 7. Ozone therapy stimulates antioxidant enzymes. All medical scientists agree that the cause of every chronic degenerative disease from cancer to heart disease and even the aging process itself is the damage caused by an excess of dangerous molecules called free radicals. But not to worry. Our cells were designed with antioxidant enzyme systems to protect us from free radical damage. However, as we get older these enzymes become reduced. The result is that we become more susceptible to disease and we age faster. Once again I have some really good news for you. Research has shown that ozone therapy increases antioxidant enzymes as much as 300%. There is no other therapy known to mankind that can do that!
- 8. Ozone is directly toxic to all microbes. This includes bacteria, fungi, and viruses. A microbe has never been found that is resistant to ozone. In this day and age of super bugs and super infections ozone therapy can be the difference between life and death.
Applications:
Inhaled Ozone: Inhaled ozone is bubbled through organic olive oil prior to inhalation via nasal tubing that inserts into the nostrils. The gas released after passing through the bubbler no long contains ozone gas, but contains a high percentage of ozonides. Ozonides react with the lung and nassl/sinus membranes and have a strong sterilization effect of fungal and bacterial infection in the sinuses and lungs. The ozonides are also absorbed into the blood stream for a systemic effect.
Ear Ozone Application: Ear ozone is applied by means of an ear ozone stethoscope. The ozone is run through a bubbler system filled with distilled water prior to being introduced to the ear canal. The ear application is very effective for ear infections, sinus infections, throat infections. Patients report clearing of ‘brain fog’, memory recall, tinnitus and other benefits.