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THE
HISTORY OF MEDICAL OZONE IN THE TREATMENT OF AIDS
Dr.
John Pittman MD
The
following is a summation of exciting occurances in the field of innovative
medicine, and particularly in the treatment of AIDS, due to its powerful
oxidizing effect. Ozone is an energized form of oxygen with extra electrons
present, which spontaneously disperse from the molecule as soon as they are
produced. Ozone
blasts holes through the membranes of viruses, bacteria, yeast and abnormal
tissue cells. One of the early uses of ozone was in America in the 1930's, when
it was found to be effective in treating various types of inflammatory bowel
disorders, such as ulcerative colitis, Krohn's disease and chronic bacterial
diarrhea. In this procedure, ozone gas is delivered into the rectum through a
catheter tip, where it is absorbed through the lining of the colon. German
researchers have been leaders in the development of ozone technology. In the
Fifties, they developed a technique for treating blood with ozone called 'major
autohemotherapy.' In this procedure, about 300 cc's of blood is taken from a
vein into a vacuum bottle. Ozone is then bubbled through the blood, after which
the blood is reinfused. In this procedure, ozone destroys any virus particles in
the blood. It is also absorbed into the plasma and after reinfusion, disperses
throughout the body. Another
technique for using ozone is direct infusion, in which the ozone gas is injected
directly into the vein. This has the advantage of being more precise in terms of
dosage delivered, as well as allowing administration of higher concentrations. Other
techniques include direct application to the skin through the use of ozone water
baths and steam cabinets. Through
dilligent research, the Germans were abel to determine that ozone was incredibly
effective in destroying such infections as hepatitis, Epstein-Barr virus,
herpes, cytomegalovirus and HIV. With the realization that HIV was susceptible
to ozone, the Germans began using the autohemotherapy technique to treat AIDS
patients as soon as this was a recognized disease. There
have been numerous anecdotes about the German's success with ozone, and many
physicians in this country have been using it with great success. Until
recently, neither the government institutions nor private corporations have
sponsored any rigid clinical ozone studies. There appears to be a built-in bias
against the development of therapies such as ozone, because it is a non-patentable
gas. Our pharmaceutical industry has developed based on the ability to patent
synthetic drugs that can be sold at a profit, and thus recoup the initial
investment expense. This has resulted in a system which supports drug
development by this method and has discouraged the development of simple,
inexpensive or non-patentable substances. Nevertheless, numerous physicians have
used ozone successfully, risking sanctions by federal and state authorities, as
this is not a FDA approved treatment. In 1986 a
company was formed with the purpose of developing ozone technology for medical
use in the treatment of HIV infection. This company, named Medizone Inc. was
formed by Terrance McGrath. Mr. McGrath founded Medizone with the purpose of
declaring ozone as a drug, and proceeding with the development of this drug just
as any other pharmaceutical company. He assembled a research team of experts in
hematology and the biochemistry of oxidative substances, and began to go through
the laborious process that the FDA requires for a new drug development. One of
the factors the FDA would require in the development of any new drug was the
ability to deliver a precise quantity at a given concentration. In this case, it
would be necessary to know the exact amount of ozone being produced by the
machine as well as that being absorbed by the blood in order to determine the
proper dosage. Mr. McGrath's research team developed a device to deliver ozone
through a thin filter membrane to blood that has been drawn from the body. This
allows a precise regulation of the quality of ozone being delivered and absorbed
by the blood. Upon
development of this patented device, Medizone was able to sell stock to raise
money for the laboratory studies and animal toxicity trials that were necessary
before FDA would give approval for human studies with ozone. They have
cooperated with the FDA and have produced very good research data which has been
published in peer review journals. The most
recent data was found in the article 'Blood, The Journal of Hematology' in
October of 1991. It was a report on a study done in Syracuse, New York, which
proved that ozone will inactivate HIV in vitro (in the laboratory, outside the
body.) In this case, blood that was infected with the virus was treated by ozone
using Medizone's device and then was studied afterward for any trace of viral
particles. Following the publication of this research, it was expected that the
FDA would grant Medizone approval to begin Phase 1 of human clinical trials.
However, the FDA came back to Medizone with the requirement that they conduct
large animal toxicity studies using an animal with blood volume comparable to
that of humans in order to determine if there is any toxic effect. The study
that has been developed will use large pigs, will cost a considerable amount of
money, and will add more time to the procedure for approval. At the time ot this
writing, Medizone still intends to move forward with this study while attempting
to receive early approval for a human trial. The
government has become more receptive to the idea of innovative medicine by
establishing the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institute of
Health. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa has been instrumental in establishing this
office. The Senator has family members who have experienced the improvements
using natural and alternative therapies, thus he has been a valuable proponent
of these treatments. Through
the action of Senator Harkin, other members of Congress, and public pressure,
the Senate Appropriations Committee set aside two million dollars for the
establishment of this office in February of 1992. They have yet to look at
ozone. I am very
excited to announce that we have opened the North Carolina Bio-Oxidative Health
Center in August 1004. We are located in the Blue Ridge Plaza, a medical office
building near Rex Hospital in Raleigh, NC. This center is the outgrowth of
several projects in which I have been involved over the past five years as part
of my ongoing research of ozone and detoxification therapies in the treatment of
immune system disorders. I
voluntarily closed my office in Raleigh in 1992 to comply with an order from the
NC Board of Medical Examiners that I cease using ozone in my medical practice
because it was considered non-conventional and was not in common usage by other
doctors within the state. Since then, through the actions of many individuals
and patients' rights groups, the law has been changed so that a physician cannot
have his license revoked for using experimental or non-conventional therapies. North Carolina is now the fifth state in the country with a freedom of
medicine law which allows physicians to choose those therapies they feel will
benefit their patients the most and gives the patients the ability to choose the
kind of medical care they feel is best for them.
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