Ozone therapy

"[1] Ozone therapy has been sold as an unproven treatment for various illnesses, including cancer, a practice which has been characterized as "pure quackery".

[4] For treatment of HIV/AIDS, although ozone deactivates the viral particles in vitro, well-designed studies have shown there is no benefit for living patients.

[17] The United States Food and Drug Administration initially stated in 1976, and reiterated its position in 2006, that when inhaled, ozone is a toxic gas that has no demonstrated safe medical application, though their position statements primarily deal with its potential for causing inflammation and pulmonary edema in the lungs.

They also emphasize that for ozone to be effective as a germicide, it must be present at concentrations far greater than can be safely tolerated by humans or other animals.

[21] There is some controversy about its use by athletes to increase performance despite numerous adverse side effects within the pulmonary and/or skeletal muscle systems.

In the muscular system, many cases of tendon rupture, osteoarthritis, myositis, synovitis, joint infections, and muscle tears have been documented as results of ozone therapy.

[19][27] Other serious incidents reported include transmission of hepatitis C.[28] Ozone-based treatments can be associated with central nervous system toxicity, termed Ozone Induced Encephalopathy (OIE).

[26] In 2009, a panel of experts consulted by Forbes recommended that ozone therapy be included on a "list of the most egregious, dangerous, aggressively marketed health scams.

[39] During World War I, ozone was tested at Queen Alexandra Military Hospital in London as a possible disinfectant for wounds.

[40][41] The psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich was a proponent of ozone therapy, which was supposed to enhance an imaginary life force he called orgone.