Ozone has unique biological properties which are being 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 bums and fistulas. These 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 precise dosages A critical advance in medical ozone technology was the development, in the early 60's, of plastics which can adequately conduit this mixture and permit proper interfacing with patients. In the last few years ozone treatment has seen growing interest from diverse medical disciplines, and research is in progress to delineate its effects on biological systems and to define its clinical applications.
Historically, ozone was first administered by application to external body surfaces to determine its effects on a variety of lesions. Like natural rubber which cracks and fritters when exposed to oxygen-ozone mixtures, early materials to "bag" ozone around skin surfaces met with early oxidation disuse. Today, specially designed plastics (Teflon) enable extremities or portions of the head or torso to be comfortably encased in a space where a determined dosage ratio of oxygen to ozone is administered at a chosen flow rate. In this way, the walls of the transparent bags do not touch the patient, an important consideration in burn treatment.
Indications for external ozone application include poorly healing wounds, burns, staphylococcal infections, fungal and radiation lesions, herpes simplex and zoster, and gangrene (diabetic or Clostridium), among others. Dosage is adjusted to the condition treated. Gas perfusions may last from three to 20 minutes, ozone concentrations varying from 10 to 80 .mu.g/ml (maximum five parts of ozone to 95 parts of oxygen). High ozone concentrations are used for disinfection and cleaning (or debridement), while low concentrations promote epithelialization and healing.
Payr in 1935 and Aubourg in 1936 first used ozone-oxygen mixtures in rectal insufflation to treat ulcerative colitis and fistulae. The list of indications have expanded to include proctitis and hemorrhoids. It is reported that in inflammatory diseases of the bowel, ozone promotes healing and restores the floral balance disturbed by pathogenic organisms. In a typical treatment for ulcerative colitis, daily insufflations are applied starting with 50 ml in severe cases, increasing as tolerated in increments (till 500 ml), high concentrations administered initially (75 .mu.g/ml) to achieve hemostasis, followed by low concentrations to promote resolution. This technique may be of some promise 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, and studies await determination of its susceptibility to ozone treatment.
Most other medications are created by modifying the molecular structure of primary ingredients, through a series of biochemical steps, to arrive at the creation of biologically active molecules. The medication thus created will ultimately have a quantifiable measurement of its potency, usually translated into dosage (in milligrams or grams). It will also have some measure of biological availability over time. Thus, a medication could have a "shelf life" of several months or years.
Ozone, utilized as a medication, embodies a quantum conceptual development in drug administration and treatment. The mind set that has dominated our notion of what constitutes the identity of a drug must, in the case of ozone, be creatively modified. Ozone is a gas, and thus is not a solid palpable molecule. It does not have a shelf life. In fact, in one hour, at room temperature, approximately 50% of its content will have returned to pure oxygen. Ozone, in addition, cannot be stored except under extreme conditions of cold.
Ozone is a novel drug, and unlike other medications, needs to be manufactured at the time it is administered to the patient.