19

Diseases of the Skin

As with other health problems, oxidative therapies have been found to be useful in treating a wide range of skin diseases. Clinical research with hydrogen peroxide has shown that hydrogen peroxide–based creams are as effective as and often cheaper than traditional medications, and less likely to cause adverse side effects.

However, Bocci writes that because pharmaceutical companies have preferentially used creams with antibiotics with or without corticosteroids (far more expensive than hydrogen peroxide, not always effective, and possibly delaying cicatrization), there has been a lack of clinical interest in oxidative therapy. Patients suffering from painful skin problems tend to seek out the quickest relief possible, so they are less likely to volunteer for long-term clinical trials.¹ Yet despite these problems, scientific research has often testified to ozone’s effectiveness.

For example, a “preliminary study” of sixty-five patients suffering from one or more of thirteen different skin diseases (including herpes zoster, herpes simplex, eczema, and pyoderma) at Russia’s Dermatovenerological Dispensary in Nizhny Novgorod was reported by Dr. S. L. Krivatkin at the Eleventh World Ozone Congress in San Francisco in 1993.

Minor autohemotherapy with ozone was given at different doses and frequencies according to the patient’s symptoms; some patients received ozone administered through the ozone bagging method as well. In addition to ozone, traditional medications were given to the nineteen patients suffering from acne, eczema, and alopecia (an abnormal baldness affecting different parts of the scalp).

The best results were reported among patients suffering from herpes zoster, who reported a total disappearance of symptoms with an 80 percent remission rate after six months. Twenty-five of the twenty-six patients with pyoderma (any pus-producing skin disease) experienced either complete remission or considerable improvement, with nineteen patients still in remission after six months. All sixteen patients with eczema either were completely cured or showed marked improvement, with a 50 percent remission rate after six months. At the end of his presentation, Dr. Krivatkin commented: “This preliminary research provides every reason to conclude that ozone therapy in practical dermatovenereology produces positive results due to its sufficient therapeutic efficacy, ease of use and safety.”²

This study was later expanded to 351 patients with the following conditions: symptoms of acne and rosacea (60 patients); alopecia (17 patients); drug-related skin eruptions (3 patients); eczema (52 patients); herpes (70 patients); lichen planus (14 patients); neurodermatitis (22 patients); prurigo (2 patients); psoriasis (27 patients); psoriatic arthritis (8 patients); pyoderma (47 patients); scleroderma (4 patients); tinea pedis (15 patients); and venous leg ulcers (10 patients). Different forms of ozone therapy (such as autohemotherapy, ozone bagging, or intramuscular injection) were applied, depending on the symptoms being treated; in some cases, ozone therapy was complemented with traditional allopathic medications.

In his presentation at the Twelfth Ozone World Congress in Lille, France, two years later, Dr. Krivatkin and his colleagues reported that ozone therapy continued to be effective in treating skin diseases. Diseases that best responded to ozone therapies (i.e., ones for which the treatment most often brought about “complete recovery”) included herpes, pyoderma, drug-related eruptions, and tinea pedis. “Considerable improvement” took place most often in patients with venous leg ulcers, lichen planus, alopecia, neurodermatitis, psoriasis, and eczema. “Improvement” was found mostly in patients suffering from acne, venous leg ulcers, and neurodermatitis, while some of the patients least responsive to ozone therapy suffered from lichen planus and alopecia. In some cases, therapeutic results were found to be roughly equal in more than one category. For example, six patients suffering from venous leg ulcers enjoyed “considerable improvement” while six showed “improvement.” Dr. Krivatkin concluded: “Thus, ozone therapy is effective, almost universal, safe, inexpensive, easy to use and useful in out-patient dermatological practice.”³

It’s important to note that Dr. Krivatkin’s research did not utilize applications of ozonated oil, which has been found to complement autohemotherapy and ozone bagging. Let’s take a more focused look at how oxidative therapies have been used to treat specific skin conditions.

ACNE

Acne (acne vulgaris) has traditionally been treated with benzoyl peroxide (BP), but this medication has been found to cause dryness and mild skin irritation. A team of Italian researchers undertook a randomized clinical trial comparing benzoyl peroxide with a formulation of hydrogen peroxide stabilized (HPS) in a monoglyceride-based cream. During the eight-week trial, sixty patients diagnosed with acne vulgaris (both the inflammatory and noninflammatory type) were selected. Half were given BP, and half were treated with HPS to compare effectiveness and tolerability.

In comparison with baseline values, the percentage of reductions of the inflammatory type were 58 percent for HPS and 61 percent for BP; the tolerability score was 2.9 in the HPS group and 2.4 in the BP group. Two HPS patients (7 percent) and seven BP patients (23 percent) suffered mild to moderate local erythema (redness due to inflammation). While HPS proved to be statistically as effective as BP, it proved to cause far fewer adverse side effects.⁴

Fifteen years later, a randomized clinical trial involving fifty-two patients was performed by researchers at the famous Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome (and reported in the British Journal of Dermatology). The study confirmed the results of the earlier trial. In addition to the basic BP and HPS cream, the drug adapalene was used. After eight weeks, researchers confirmed that “the combination of adapalene and HP [hydrogen peroxide] cream is an effective topical treatment regimen in mild to moderate AV [acne vulgaris]. This combination has shown a better tolerability profile in comparison with the combination of BP and adapalene.”⁵

ALOPECIA

Alopecia is a rare disease where a person loses body hair, including that of the scalp. A study was carried out by Dr. E. Riva Sanseverino and colleagues from the Institute of Human Physiology at the University of Bologna in Italy in 1995 to study this problem. Forty-two patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia (alopecia that is genetic, usually involving moderate to severe loss of hair around the crown and temples in men and the crown in women) were studied both before and after they received cycles of sixteen treatments of major autohemotherapy at a dosage of 2,500 to 3,000 µg of ozone for each treatment. The researchers concluded that results “showed a marked improvement of the hair cycle.”⁶

After reviewing this study, Dr. Bocci cautions, “This does not mean that alopecia was cured, so personally I doubt that we should propose this therapy. As a far simpler alternative, I would propose daily application of strongly ozonated water on the scalp for a couple of months.”⁷

ATHLETE’S FOOT

Because of the warm and humid tropical climate, athlete’s foot (epidermophytosis) is very common in Cuba. It is often resistant to medication and tends to return repeatedly. A study of one hundred patients was undertaken at the Pasteur Polyclinic in Havana, with half of the subjects applying ozonated sunflower oil three times a day to the infected area and the other half using traditional antifungal medications. Symptoms cleared up completely within ten to fifteen days for 96 percent of the patients using ozonated oil, while only 20 percent of the control group were cured after fifteen days.⁸

HERPES SIMPLEX

In addition to his pioneering research on the effects of medical ozone on hepatitis, Dr. Heinz Konrad of São Paulo, Brazil, is believed to have been the first physician to treat herpes with ozone, having shared his experience with other physicians for the first time in 1981. His second study with herpes involved twenty-eight patients suffering from different varieties of herpes simplex: twenty had genital herpes, four had cutaneous (skin) herpes, two had herpes labialis (herpes of the lips), and two suffered from herpes of the eye. Most had been treated unsuccessfully by other physicians. Dr. Konrad gave all patients 9 mg of ozone in the form of autohemotherapy twice a week. Most were given six treatments, although a few received up to nine. Their progress was monitored over a period of two and a half years.

The results of this second study, reported in 1982, were impressive, especially among the patients suffering from genital and cutaneous herpes. “Absolute success” was recorded in 85 percent of the patients with genital herpes; 15 percent reported partial improvement. All of the patients with cutaneous herpes recovered completely. Half of those with oral herpes and half with ophthalmic (eye) herpes recovered completely, while the other half experienced what Dr. Konrad called “questionable success.”⁹

Dr. R. Matassi and his associates at the Division of Vascular Surgery at the Santa Corona Hospital in Milan, Italy, also studied the effects of ozone and oxygen on different varieties of herpes. In one study, they treated twenty-seven patients with herpes simplex labialis with intravenous injections of oxygen and ozone. All patients healed completely after a minimum of one and a maximum of five injections, with a recurrence in only three patients over the next five years. As is usual with ozone therapy, no adverse side effects were reported among any of the participants in the study.¹⁰

HERPES ZOSTER (SHINGLES)

Dr. Matassi and his colleagues also treated thirty patients diagnosed with herpes zoster at the Santa Corona Hospital in Milan, Italy. Herpes zoster is a very painful disease that often takes many weeks to treat. Many patients suffering from shingles have trouble sleeping, and some are known to have even attempted suicide to escape their intense discomfort.

In the Matassi study, the patients were treated daily with intravenous injections of oxygen and ozone, a practice now prohibited in Italy. All of the subjects experienced a complete remission of symptoms of skin lesions after a minimum of five and a maximum of twelve injections. In most cases, local redness disappeared after two to three days of treatment. However, five elderly patients with long-term herpes complained of pain up to two months after therapy, even though their observable symptoms disappeared.¹¹

In a yearlong study sponsored by the Center for Medical-Surgical Research in Cuba, fifteen adults suffering from herpes zoster were treated daily with a combination of ozonated sunflower oil and intramuscular injections over the course of fifteen days. All patients noted marked improvement after only three applications, and by the end of treatment, all patients were judged symptom free. Follow-up inquiries a year later revealed no relapse of symptoms. The researchers concluded: “We can say that this study demonstrates the superiority of treating herpes zoster with ozone over traditional therapies. Its low cost, easy availability and simple application make it preferable to other methods.”¹²

In his presentation at the 1983 Ozone World Congress in Washington, D.C., Dr. Konrad made the following observations in the treatment of herpes zoster with ozone therapy:

Those few patients I could treat from the very beginning of their herpes zoster experienced a relatively fast recovery. It never took longer than 6 to 8 weeks to get them well and stop the ozone therapy. However, those patients whom I could only treat after they had already had their herpes zoster for weeks or months, or even years, needed a much longer time to feel any better. . . . It seems, thus, of utmost importance, to treat a herpes zoster patient with ozone from the very beginning of his disease in order to have a chance of complete recovery.¹³

In 1995 Dr. Konrad presented a paper at the Twelfth Ozone World Congress in France detailing his seventeen years of experience in treating herpes patients with ozone. Of special interest were his findings about the ability of ozone therapy to reduce the “post-zoster neuralgia” pain of individuals suffering from herpes zoster:

8 percent of patients had pain that remained absolutely unchanged.

4 percent had pain that was “somewhat” (25 percent) reduced.

28 percent had pain that was “significantly” (50 percent) reduced.

14 percent had pain that was “mostly” (75 percent) eliminated.

46 percent of patients had pain that was totally (100 percent) eliminated.

Dr. Konrad recalled that the best results were achieved when ozone therapy was combined with the Huneke brothers’ “neural therapy” methods introduced early in this century, and he stressed that speedier healing was seen in people who began ozone therapy in the earlier stages of the disease.¹⁴

HYPODERMATITIS

A randomized open study of 117 adults suffering from indurative hypodermatitis (a subcutaneous hardening of tissue) or localized lipodystrophy (atrophy of subcutaneous fat) was coordinated by researchers affiliated with the Institute of Pharmacology II at the University of Pavia in Italy. Participants were divided into two random groups. After careful examination and evaluation, one group of patients was given subcutaneous injections of ozone and oxygen according to established protocols once a week over a five-week period. Members of the control group were given treatments of Essaven gel, a conventional medication, three or more times a day for five weeks. At the end of the trial, both the physician and patient evaluated the efficacy of treatment in terms of “very good,” “good,” “fair,” “poor,” and “nil.”

Overall, ozone treatments showed a much higher success rate than the gel treatments, as seen in the chart below.

Researchers concluded that “oxygen-ozone therapy applied within the limits and with the methods indicated in protocol, leads to a more rapid and more extensive remission of the major objective signs of the pathology (circumference of the affected part and skin temperature) as compared with conventional gel therapy.”¹⁵

NEURODERMATITIS

A significant percentage of the patients seeking care at the Kief Clinic in Germany suffer from neurodermatitis. It is a chronic and disfiguring autoimmune disease that manifests as eczema, skin rashes, skin eruptions, and intense itching, causing severe physical and emotional distress. There are both genetic and emotional factors to this disease, and it affects people of all ages, from very young children to elderly adults. The symptoms of many of the patients who visit the Kief Clinic do not respond to traditional medical therapy, such as corticosteroids.

In a statistical study carried out at the clinic, 115 patients suffering from neurodermatitis were given autohomologous immunotherapy (AHIT) over a period of three months. Treatment consisted of injections and oral medication for the adults, while children were given oral AHIT only.

The results, published in the medical journal Erfahrungsheilkunde in 1989, were classified as follows: “full remission” was described as being totally free of symptoms until the study was published, two and a half years after treatment; “significantly improved” included greatly improved skin symptoms with a corresponding decrease or disappearance of itching; and “improvement” meant that skin conditions got better and/ or itching was relieved. Under these classifications, forty-three patients (37 percent) had full remissions, fifty subjects (44 percent) showed significant improvement, and thirteen patients (11 percent) improved. Seven of Dr. Kief’s patients (6 percent) did not respond to therapy, while two (2 percent) experienced a worsening of symptoms over the long term.¹⁶

The results of a later study of 333 individuals with neurodermatitis (blindly selected from a total of 2,254) were reported by Dr. Kief in the March 1993 issue of Erfahrungsheilkunde. Patients with multiple symptoms, such as neurodermatitis and asthma, were included. Kief ’s findings were consistent with the earlier results regarding long-term remission. However, results demonstrated a temporary full remission of 65 to 67 percent, which represented an increase over earlier statistics.¹⁷ Figure 19.1 shows “before” and “after” photos of two of Dr. Kief ’s patients.

IMPETIGO CONTAGIOSA

Impetigo contagiosa is an acute and contagious staphylococcal or streptococcal skin disease that includes the appearance of vesicles, pustules, and yellowish crusts. Researchers from the Department of Dermatology at the General Hospital in Malmo, Sweden, undertook a double-blind clinical trial with 256 patients suffering from this condition. The trials were performed at forty-seven medical centers in Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Half of the patients (128) were given hydrogen peroxide cream (Microcid), and the other half (128) were treated with fusidic acid cream/gel (Fucidin).

Figure 19.1. Two of Dr. Kief’s patients with neurodermatitis, before and after receiving AHIT. (Photographs courtesy of Dr. Horst Kief.)

During the three-week period of the trial, 72 percent of the patients treated with Microcid were healed, and 82 percent of the Fucidin group were healed, although the researchers claimed that this was not statistically significant. In addition, hemolytic streptococci were eliminated among patients receiving the hydrogen peroxide cream. Researchers concluded: “Microcid cream has been documented as a topical alternative to fusidic acid in the treatment of impetigo.”¹⁸

LEPROSY

Scientists have known that ultraviolet A (UVA) rays from the sun are a poor inactivator of dangerous living cells like bacteria. Yet when combined with certain chemical creams applied to the skin, UVA rays (whether from the sun or a UVA lamp) can kill such cells. Dr. S. I. Ahmad, a researcher at the Department of Life Sciences at Nottingham Trent University in England, decided to compare various chemical creams (combined with UVA therapy) to see how effective they would be in treating skin infections related to leprosy (Mycobacterium leprae), a common and often disfiguring skin disease that affects millions of people globally. He found that not only was hydrogen peroxide cream cheaper to use than other creams (an important factor in treating patients in third-world countries), but “out of several agents we have tested, this [hydrogen peroxide cream] was found to be the most potent.”¹⁹

A team of Brazilian researchers from the Physiotherapy Institute (Realengo Campus) and the School of Medicine at the Instituto Federal do Rio de Janeiro treated an eighty-year-old man diagnosed with five wounds on his left hand resulting from leprosy. The researchers utilized a high-frequency current using what they called a sparks technique to produce ozone. The researchers postulated that the electric field generated by the device and the passing of the current through the body can produce thermal effects (heat production). The ozone effect is due to the sparking produced by the electrical current passing through the electrode. They believed that the thermal effects contribute to peripheral vasodilation, increasing blood flow and oxygen delivery to the wound.

The patient’s wound care protocol was limited to application of the high-frequency current. The patient received five applications on each ulcer per day, which varied in terms of the size of the lesions. The patient was treated once per week for a total of four weeks. Despite it being possible to measure the area at the end of the fifth treatment session, the ulcers were considered clinically healed because they showed complete skin closure with no drainage and no sign of infection. The researchers concluded:

The ozone provided by a high-frequency device seemed to be useful in the treatment of ulcers contributing to the healing process. However, it is important to highlight that this intervention can be considered as adjuvant in skin damage treatment. We recommend that this modality be used in combination with self-care strategies, protective clothing, modified tools and footwear adaptation.²⁰

WARTS

Warts are a common skin problem caused by any of numerous genotypes of the human papilloma virus. They are often treated by physicians through cutting, burning, or medication. Hydrogen peroxide is a little-known remedy for removing warts painlessly and permanently. The following treatment for warts with 30 percent hydrogen peroxide was described by the German physician Dr. M. Manok in the journal Hautarzt:

One needs a sharp spoon, not to remove the wart, [but] rather to open the surface. One doesn’t need to get to the root which would cause it to bleed. . . . With an eyedropper, drop 1 drop of 30% H₂O₂ onto the opened surface and let it dry. After 2 or 3 days scrape off the dried layer and add another drop of H₂O₂. How many times depends on size of the wart. For middle-sized warts it will usually take 4 to 5 applications. Larger ones will take longer. With Verrucae planea juvenilis, the most it will take is 2 applications to have it disappear without a trace. Of special importance is, that the plantar wart, which is otherwise hard to remove, can be treated successfully that way. The pain stops mostly after the first or second application. So the patient shouldn’t have trouble walking.²¹

VARICOSE ULCERS

Varicose ulcers are open sores in the extremities found primarily among individuals suffering from either diabetes mellitus or varicose veins. These ulcers often get infected and are difficult to treat. Scientists at the Pasteur Polyclinic in Havana, Cuba, wondered if the germicidal properties of ozonated oil could stimulate tissue regeneration among patients suffering from varicose ulcers. They chose 120 subjects with varicose ulcers. Half of the patients were treated with ozonated sunflower oil, and the other half (the control group) were given conventional topical medications.

All of the patients using the ozonated oil were completely cured within fifteen to thirty days, while the majority of the control group needed much more time. A few members of the control group had not recovered by the end of the study. In addition to its efficiency, the researchers noted that the patients receiving ozone therapy did not require hospitalization, since the oil could easily be applied at home.²²

STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a life-threatening skin condition in which cell death causes the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin) to separate from the dermis (the thick layer of living tissue that lies below the epidemis, containing glands, capillaries, nerve endings and other structures). SJS is thought to arise from a disorder of the immune system. The immune reaction can be triggered by medications or infections, although genetic factors have also been associated with a predisposition to SJS.

Dr. Lamberto Re and colleagues from the Medinat SAS clinic and the National Institute of Health and Science on Aging in Ancona, Italy, reported a case of Stevens-Johnson syndrome treated with ozone therapy. The patient, a twenty-eight-year-old woman, had been diagnosed with SJS three months before admission to the Medinat clinic by her treating physician. The doctors at the clinic observed ulceration of the mouth, nose, and ear mucosa in varying grades of severity. Previous treatment with antiviral and anti-inflammatory drugs had been done without any apparent result.

The physicians at the clinic gave the patient a total of eight oxygen-ozone treatments via major autohemotherapy, with treatments administered every third day. They began with a first infusion of blood treated with low ozone doses followed by 7.5 grams of vitamin C. Doctors reported that after the first treatment the patient showed a sudden relief of symptoms and the ulcers disappeared. The treatment was repeated over the next several weeks to enable the patient to reach a stable condition. Follow-up exams over the next six months showed the complete healing of the patient.

The authors concluded: “The clinical observation described in this case report, suggests that oxidative therapy by mean of low ozone doses (ozone hormesis or ozohormesis) could be helpful and considered as a valid complement to the pharmacological assessment in conditions where immune system is weak or unbalanced.”²³

OZONE AND “SUPERBUGS”

Whether from diabetes, atherosclerosis, or aging, millions of individuals around the world suffer from skin problems that have degenerated into infected wounds. Many do not respond to commonly prescribed medications. Over the years, a number of clinical reports (some cited in this book) have shown that the daily application of ozonated oil can eliminate infection and promote healing of a variety of even the most drug-resistant skin infections.

A group of researchers from four departments at the University of Siena in Italy studied the antimicrobial effect of ozonated oil by testing in vitro four bacterial “superbug” species and one yeast without—or in the presence of—human serum, a product obtained from blood plasma after fibrinogen and other clotting factors have been removed.

The substances tested were Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans. Ozonated sesame oil was applied to the different pathogens in a laboratory setting and results were measured at one hour, three hours, and six hours after application.

The researchers observed:

No viable bacteria were obtained only after six hours and at the maximum peroxide content of the ozonated oils, except in the case of the less amount of OSO [ozonated sesame oil] for E. faecalis that appeared to be the most resistant strain. Considering all the data, also P. aeruginosa and, to a lesser extent, C. albicans were quite resistant. On the contrary, S. aureus appeared to be the most sensitive one, with a sensible growth diminution since after the first hour with the minimum content of both ozonated oil and peroxide content. As regards E. coli, after three hours, a marked sensitivity to treatment has been observed, regardless of the amount of the ozonated oil.

The researchers suggested that a gentle and continuous removal of debris and exudate is an essential condition for the potent bactericidal effect of ozonated oils to take place, noting that even small amounts of human serum can inactivate ozone derivatives and protect bacteria. They concluded that when correctly applied, ozonated oil preparations can be very promising in treating a wide variety of skin and mucosal infections at low cost.²⁴