Ozone Therapy and Nitric Oxide: Two Powerful Ways to Enhance Health
by Frank A. Shallenberger, MD
Ozone therapy represents one form of alternative medicine that a doctor might offer his/her patients. Some consider the actions of ozone in the human body to be critically central, while at the same time being very diverse. I can also say for the past 25 years I have been using it every day in my general medical practice. And yet as good as ozone therapy may be, it is not equally effective in every patient. For this reason doctors using ozone therapy are always looking for that little extra something that might increase its efficacy. That something may be nitric oxide in the form of a new supplement called Neo40® Daily.
Most people and doctors in the United States have not heard of ozone therapy. They know that ozone is a gas. They know that it is found in polluted air. They also know that it can be very toxic to the lungs. But medically produced ozone is very different from the ozone that is found in pollution. Medical grade ozone is produced from pure oxygen. The idea of using it as a medicine is new to most.
Ozone’s Beneficial Effects
Oxygen when it exists as a single atom is deficient in electrons. This makes the atom very unstable, and as a result single oxygen atoms cannot exist in nature all by themselves—at least not for more than a few nanoseconds. However, two oxygen atoms can join together to share electrons. This combination forms a very stable molecule. It is referred to as O2. This is the stable form of oxygen that is found in the atmosphere. And is the form of oxygen that is used in medical settings.
However, when an energetic force, such as electricity or ultra-violet light, is imposed upon a molecule of O2, the two oxygen atoms are temporarily split apart into single oxygen atoms. Then, of course, in a matter of nanoseconds, these highly unstable single oxygen atoms will pair up again and reform into O2 molecules. However, a small percentage of them will unite in a trio known as ozone.
Thus, ozone is a molecule which consists of three oxygen atoms all sharing the same electrons. Because there just are not enough electrons to go around to keep three oxygen atoms completely happy, ozone, unlike O2, is a relatively unstable molecule. It wants to get rid of that extra oxygen atom so it can form the more stable molecule O2. This instability is exactly why it is so powerful. When ozone interacts with cells, its metabolic stimulating and health effects are more than ten times greater than what occurs from regular oxygen (O2). This is why ozone therapy has had such a long and rich history in medicine.
Ozone was first discovered by the German scientist C.F. Schonbeinin in 1840. Schonbein noticed the sweet smell of ozone while working with electricity to form sparks. As the spark formed it broke up the immediately surrounding O2 into singlet oxygen atoms. In turn, some of these singlet atoms formed ozone. Seventeen years later, Werner von Seimens developed the first ozone generator. Dr. John Kellogg (of Kellogg’s® cereal fame) was the first American doctor to harness the healing properties of ozone in 1880. He used it regularly in his world famous clinic in Battle Creek, Michigan.
After its initial discovery, ozone therapy continued to be used medically throughout the world. However, ozone was very difficult to apply in many medical applications because it reacted with and dissolved latex. So it wasn’t until the invention of plastics in the 1940s that the medical use of ozone really expanded.
Today, ozone is being used medically throughout the world. The applications include cardiovascular health, eye health, joint health, minor aches and pains, gastrointestinal health, gynecological health, blood sugar balance, immune health, and much more. In this article I am going to focus on one particular application of ozone therapy—cardiovascular health.
Ozone and Cardiovascular Health
Medical grade ozone is made by passing pure oxygen gas through a tube through which energy is directed. The energy breaks apart the molecules as described above, and what emerges from the other side is a mixture of oxygen and ozone. The half life of ozone in plastic is 30 minutes, so once it is made, it must be used immediately. I have six ozone generators in my clinic, and at any time of the day, at least half of them are being used in various applications for my patients.
Ozone generators in medical offices are not the only places where ozone is made for medical reasons. It is also made in the human body by white blood cells and antibodies as part of the respiratory burst. According to researchers at The Scripps Research Institute, in addition to their direct effects for supporting a healthy immune response, white cells also feed singlet oxygen to antibodies, which convert it into ozone. The ozone produced by white cells in the body increases the robustness of the immune response. And it may be that this function of ozone therapy is one reason why it is such a powerful method to support cardiovascular health.
Several recent studies are pointing out that a major factor in the accumulation of unwanted fats and lipids in arteries is related to suboptimal immune function. A number of effects that result from this contribute to poor coronary and circulatory health. Many doctors including myself have found that the regular administration of ozone to patients for supporting cardiovascular health augments all other forms of therapy, and can significantly enhance cardiovascular function. This is probably at least partially due to ozone’s immune-boosting effect.
Ozone Enhances NO Production
A potentially even more important aspect of ozone therapy in the application of cardiovascular health may be the increased production of nitric oxide. This aspect indicates there is a synergism between ozone therapy and the important newly available supplement Neo40 Daily.
Nitric oxide is the molecule that our bodies use to cause our smooth muscles to relax. The smooth muscles are the muscles that surround our blood vessels. When they contract, the blood vessels close off and blood flow decreases. When they relax, the vessels open up and blood flow improves. As long as there is enough nitric oxide available, blood vessels will stay open, and there will be maximum circulation. The opposite happens when there is not enough nitric oxide present.
With aging, the human body tends to produce less nitric oxide. As a result the circulation to every cell in the body decreases, and numerous imbalances can result, not the least of which is the aging process itself.
Yet, that’s not all nitric oxide can do. By relaxing the smooth muscles around blood vessels it is also instrumental in maintaining healthy blood pressure. Nitric oxide is also active in the lungs. The very same smooth muscles that control blood vessels also control the small tubes called the bronchial tubes that go to the air sacks in the lungs. When they contract, the air going to the lungs shuts down, and it becomes hard to breathe. So a deficiency in nitric oxide can also result in shortness of breath. Nitric oxide is also a sexy molecule. It is only when enough nitric oxide is produced in the penis that the blood flow becomes sufficient for an erection. Thus, one method to support healthy sexual function is by increasing nitric oxide signaling. In a similar way, nitric oxide is instrumental in the female sexual response as well.
As stated above, there is an interesting relationship between ozone therapy and nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is made in the body from the amino acid L-arginine through the action of the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS). New research is now showing that ozone stimulates the production of NOS. This is likely to be the major reason why the use of ozone therapy for cardiovascular health is gaining popularity. However, there is more to the nitric oxide story than NOS production.
For the longest time scientists thought that the only significant biochemical pathway for nitric oxide production was through NOS and that one of the best ways to increase NO production was through L-arginine supplementation. This strategy has been shown to work effectively in young healthy individuals with functional endothelium or in older patients with high levels of asymmetric dimethyl L-arginine (ADMA) where the supplemental L-arginine can out-compete this natural inhibitor of NO production. People with age-associated endothelial dysfunction, however, by definition, are unable to convert L-arginine to NO and, therefore, this strategy has failed in clinical trials.
Consequently, Dr. Nathan Bryan and others at the University of Texas have learned that there is another perhaps even better way to increase nitric oxide production.
Their findings were published a few months ago in the journal Nutrition Research. The new way to increase nitric oxide levels is through the conversion of a nutrient called nitrite into nitric oxide. And to do that, they helped develop a new supplement called Neo40 Daily.
By providing a source of nitrite in conjunction with other nutrients that assist in the conversion of nitrite to nitric oxide, this product may be the perfect companion for ozone therapy. Ozone therapy increases nitric oxide levels through stimulating NOS, and Neo40 Daily produces nitric oxide through nitrite conversion. Neo40 Daily also can be used on its own to effectively stimulate nitric oxide production.
References
1. Shallenberger FA. Principles And Applications Of Ozone Therapy. Amazon Press. 2011. Available at: http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Applications-ozone-therapy-physicians/dp/145641335X
2. Babior BM, Takeuchi C, Ruedi J, Gutierrez A, Wentworth P Jr. Investigating antibody-catalyzed ozone generation by human neutrophils. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Mar 18;100(6):3031-4.
3. Chiu B. Multiple infections in carotid atherosclerotic plaques. Am Heart J. 1999 Nov;138(5 Pt 2):S534-6.
4. KJ Pendino, JD Laskin, RL Shuler, CJ Punjabi and DL Laskin. Enhanced production of nitric oxide by rat alveolar macrophages after inhalation of a pulmonary irritant is associated with increased expression of nitric oxide synthase. The Journal of Immunology. 151(12):7196-7205.
5. Zand J, Lanza F, Garg HK, Bryan NS. All-natural nitrite and nitrate containing dietary supplement promotes nitric oxide production and reduces triglycerides in humans. Nutr Res. 2011 Apr;31(4):262-9.
