Aug 17 2023: Do No Harm- Cortisone VS Prolozone

First do no harm. These words are not actually a part of the Hypocratic Oath but they are an important component of it. Licensed health care professionals such as nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and chiropractors all have an oath that they recite when graduating from their respective institutions. What they are pledging is to abstain from knowingly harming those who they serve when delivering their services. This involves critical thinking skills to determine if the risk of such treatment is worth the benefit to the patient. In the fast-paced environment of the Medical Industrial Complex known as health care in the US, such discernment is often overlooked in favor of efficiency and profit.

Take for example Cortisone injections. When a patient goes to their orthopedic doctor with pain often one of the first things offered is a cortisone shot. The patient believes that his or her healthcare provider has their best interest at heart, therefore they trust in the treatment being suggested. Unfortunately, the provider is most often following the dictates of money-making corporations, who’s ultimate goal is to maximize profit.

Cortisone injections have great risk to the patient but the patient is unaware of this because these risks are not explained to them in detail as they should be, prior to agreeing to have this treatment given. According to several studies, a single cortisone injection may cause a profound elevation in blood sugar, an increased chance of fractures from falls, and decreased immunity from pathogens.  One cortisone injection weakens the tissue structure in the area it is given, and can even result in total destruction of a joint, as in avascular necrosis of the hip.  Having several cortisone injections essentially places the patient on the conveyor belt to having a total joint replacement or other major orthopedic surgery.  Often times, the cortisone injection isn’t even effective in reducing the patient’s pain, however, the cortisone remains in the patient’s system for weeks at a time.

There is a solution to the problem of controlling pain without the risks of cortisone injections.  It is called Prolozone and platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections with Prolozone. Prolozone is a formula first developed by Dr. Frank Shallenberger in the 1980’s. It consists of injecting vitamins, nutrients, Procaine, and ozone gas into the injured or painful area. These ingredients have been proven to have beneficial effects in pain management and tissue regeneration. PRP which is extracted from the patient’s blood and added to the Prolozone injection further increases healing and pain control.

References:

Sokol, D. K. (2013). “First do no harm” revisited. Bmj, 347

Stout, A., Friedly, J., & Standaert, C. J. (2019). Systemic absorption and side effects of locally injected glucocorticoids. PM&R, 11(4), 409-419

Stone, S., Malanga, G. A., & Capella, T. (2021). Corticosteroids: review of the history, the effectiveness, and adverse effects in the treatment of joint pain. Pain Physician, 24(S1), S233

Shallenberger, F., & HMD, A. (2011). Prolozone™–regenerating joints and eliminating pain. Journal of Prolotherapy, 3(2)

Dernek, B., & Kesiktas, F. N. (2019). Efficacy of combined ozone and platelet-rich-plasma treatment versus platelet-rich-plasma treatment alone in early stage knee osteoarthritis. Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation, 32(2), 305-311

Aug 1 2023: Why Ozone Therapy isn’t “Mainstream Medicine” in the US

The use of ozone in medicine has been around for over a century and there are hundreds of valid research studies proving beneficial in treating ailments from gangrene to cancer. Ozone therapy is used in medicine all over the world, so why isn’t it more utilized in the United States?

One main reason for this is that Ozone therapy isn’t FDA approved. The Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved ozone therapy (OT) and therefore isn’t considered a valid treatment. Moreover, the FDA has even villainized and discredited OT’s success in treating disease as being harmful and without scientific proof of efficacy. If you look for research studies on OT you will find hundreds of studies from reputable sources outside the US.  Recently, a large number of studies have been done on the use of OT in cancer and Covid 19 patients, demonstrating its effectiveness.

Why haven’t there been studies done in the US on Ozone Therapy? The most likely answer is simple. Ozone can’t be patented (like a drug) and therefore isn’t profitable. It takes significant resources to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research study.  The entities that have this kind of money to invest are most often pharmaceutical companies. As long as health care in the US is profit-driven and not health-driven, research won’t be done on treatment modalities such as ozone therapy and OT won’t be utilized in mainstream medicine. Therefore, OT won’t be taught in US medical schools, and healthcare providers in the US will continue to ignorantly proclaim OT a sham treatment, or worse yet, harmful to patients when the opposite has been proven true.

References:

Ranaldi, G. T., Villani, E. R., & Franza, L. (2020). Rationale for ozone-therapy as an adjuvant therapy in COVID-19: a narrative review. Medical gas research, 10(3), 134.

Zheng, Z., Dong, M., & Hu, K. (2020). A preliminary evaluation on the efficacy of ozone therapy in the treatment of COVID‐19. Journal of medical virology, 92(11), 2348.

Menendez, S., Cepero, J., & Borrego, L. (2008). Ozone therapy in cancer treatment: State of the art. Ozone: Science and Engineering, 30(6), 398-404.

Tirelli, U., Cirrito, C., Pavanello, M., Del Pup, L., Lleshi, A., & Berretta, M. (2018). Oxygen-ozone therapy as support and palliative therapy in 50 cancer patients with fatigue–A short report. European Review for Medical & Pharmacological Sciences, 22(22).

Clavo, B., Rodríguez-Esparragón, F., Rodríguez-Abreu, D., Martínez-Sánchez, G., Llontop, P., Aguiar-Bujanda, D., … & Santana-Rodríguez, N. (2019). Modulation of oxidative stress by ozone therapy in the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced toxicity: review and prospects. Antioxidants, 8(12), 588.

Cummings, J. L., Goldman, D. P., Simmons‐Stern, N. R., & Ponton, E. (2022). The costs of developing treatments for Alzheimer’s disease: A retrospective exploration. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 18(3), 469-477.

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