Gwyneth Paltrow tried rectal ozone therapy.Here’s what the experts think

This remedy is touted in humans as well as pets as a way to fight viruses and inflammation, support the immune system, improve blood circulation, and speed healing.

What is ozone therapy?

Ozone is a combination of three oxygen atoms that most of us associate with the ozone layer in the atmosphere. In the upper stratosphere, ozone can block harmful UV rays. This is good. However, getting closer to the earth’s surface creates smog that can damage the airways.

Ozone is most stable in gaseous form, but it can also exist in liquid and solid forms and is highly flammable.

Only ozone gas is used for these supposedly therapeutic purposes. Use an ozone generator to produce medical grade gas.

In addition to being blasted in the rectum, it can also be introduced through the ear or vagina, applied over the skin (“ozone sauna”), mixed with blood, injected or ingested (ozone mixtures). increase. ozone and oil or water).

However, it is very dangerous if inhaled.

Are there any benefits of ozone therapy?

Once introduced into the body, ozone probably has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and may be beneficial for chronic diseases, according to Dr. Eric Usher, a family physician at Lenox Hill Hospital.

Small studies and case reports have examined the efficacy of treatment, but Cleveland Clinic called the evidence “low quality and limited”.

has been studied in relation to chronic pain and fibromyalgia.

1 author based in Egypt Papers published in 2021 Although the study did not include a placebo or other controls, one or two sessions of rectal ozone therapy were safe and may have helped blood oxygen in two patients with COVID-19. Said there was.

Another study of nine COVID-19 patients found that ozone-supplemented blood transfusions (taking the patient’s blood, treating it with ozone, and returning it to the body) pneumonia.

However, in 2020, federal court in texas Bans health and wellness centers from promoting ozone therapy to treat COVID-19, labeling it as ‘deceptive promotion of COVID-19 treatments that are believed to be useless and potentially harmful’ attached.

“There are some proposed theoretical benefits from that, but it doesn’t look like great science,” Hoda said.

“It’s difficult to quantify exactly how beneficial it is,” Usher said.

Is ozone therapy safe?

Along with efficacy, the safety of ozone therapy is an open question. Ascher says rectal delivery can cause bloating, fatigue, and stomach and rectal discomfort. Even more troubling is the risk of air embolism (blood clots in the lungs) upon inhalation. Inhalation can also cause pulmonary edema (when the lungs fill with fluid).

People who have ever worked with ozone (such as when using cleaning products or working in wastewater treatment plants) have experienced difficulty breathing, coughing, and headaches. Long-term exposure can even lead to asthma, CDC.

One problem, according to the FDA, is that ozone therapy needs high concentrations to be particularly effective at killing bacteria, which is dangerous. “It can be toxic to human cells and can damage the mucosal lining of the colon.” That’s not the case.”

Ascher also recommends against ozone therapy in some situations where ozone therapy is considered useful.

“Your body can develop a treatable but uncomfortable, more serious infection called the Herxheimer reaction,” he said. should be avoided in any case.”