What is Oxygen Therapy?

Oxygen therapy is a form of treatment based upon the premise that all harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi (e.g. flu, colds, AIDs, candida albicans and cancerous cells) are anaerobic - they can only thrive in low oxygen environments. Conversely, to maintain good health, the human body requires a rich supply of oxygen.

Dr Otto Warburg, twice Nobel laureate was able to prove that cancer cannot grow in an high oxygen environment. He states: ‘Cancer, above all diseases, has countless secondary causes, but there is only one prime cause: the prime cause of cancer is the replacement of normal oxygen respiration of body cells by anaerobic respiration’. In other words, lack of oxygen. His research revealed that when a cell is denied 60% of its normal requirement of oxygen, it switches to a fermentation mechanism and grows out of control. Researchers have since shown that cancerous growths contract and even disappear when oxygen saturation is sufficiently raised in the fluids surrounding them.

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How does it work?

According to Dr Warburg, both normal cells and cancer cells derive energy from glucose, but normal cells require oxygen to combine with the glucose, while cancer cells break down glucose without oxygen, yielding only 1/15 the energy per glucose molecule that a normal cell produces. (This explains why people who consume excessive quantities of sugar may be more at risk from cancer).

The anaerobic breakdown of glucose by cancer cells forms large amounts of lactic acid. Some of this is converted back into glucose by the liver which in so doing uses one fifth of the energy per glucose molecule that a normal cell can, but that still leaves three times more available energy for cancer cells. This wasteful metabolism becomes self-sustaining and dominant unless (a) the cancer’s energy supply is eliminated or (b) oxygen or energy levels to normal cells are significantly increased.

In essence, therefore, advocates of oxygen therapy claim that it is the lack of oxygen on a cellular level that is responsible for disease. The greater oxygen levels in our bodies, the more resistant we become to viruses and harmful bacteria. This is the principle upon which oxygen therapy is based.

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Causes of oxygen depletion

There are a number of reasons why oxygen levels are restricted to human tissue.

Environmental:
At sea level, approximately 20 per cent of the atmosphere is supposed to be oxygen, but due to the high levels of smog and low numbers of trees in cities, the available amount of oxygen can reduced to 10 per cent.

Carbon monoxide fumes from cars strip oxygen molecules from the blood.

Tap water is very low in oxygen because its journey through lead pipes and the addition of chlorine and other chemical contaminants prevent it from being aerated.

Dietary:
Cooking or heating food reduces the oxygen content in vegetables and fruits, and processed foods have little or no oxygen content. In 1961, Dr R.A. Holman M.D., senior lecturer in Bacteriology, School of Medicine at the University of Wales stated that the answer to cancer lies in ‘the fundamental catalase-peroxide mechanism of our own cells’... ‘to this end, it is urgently required that a concerted effort be made at an international level to curtail the intake of catalase-inhibiting agents, whether in the air, food, drink, drugs or radiation to which we are exposed.’ He went on to suggest that ‘this plan should be coupled with a campaign to increase the intake of catalase by the consumption of fresh, living foodstuffs together with a re-education of man to use his animal body in the way for which it was designed’.(1)

This, of course, supports the current day notion that a diet high in fibre made up largely from fresh, organic fruits and vegetables together with moderate aerobic exercise and adequate rest and relaxation is the best prescription for health. However, once the body’s natural defence systems have been broken down through an unhealthy lifestyle, there comes a point when patients are unable to obtain sufficient oxygen through diet and lifestyle to regain health. And, perhaps this is where oxygen therapy offers potential help.

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What is involved in Oxygen therapy?

There are two main methods of Oxygen therapy is through Hydogen Peroxide and Ozone treatment.

Ozone treatment
Ozone treatment involves forcing oxygen through a metal tube carrying a 300 volt charge. A pint of blood is then drawn from the patient and placed into an infusion bottle. Ozone is then forced int the bottle and mixed so that the ozone molecues dissolve into the blood and, in so doing, destroy all lipid-envelope virus and many disease organisms, but leave the blood unharmed. The treated blood is then returned to the patient. It is claimed that the treated blood transfers its virucidal properties to the rest of the patient’s blood as it disperses.

Hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide, when exposed to your blood or other body fluids containing the enzyme ‘catalase’ is chemically split into oxygen and water. Many people have experienced the foaming effect produced by putting hydrogen peroxide on a wound; the foam is oxygen being produced by the action of catalase on the hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide may be injected directly into the bloodstream or taken orally. In the USA, licenced physicians administer injections. However, a much simpler method of oxygen therapy is oral administration, the only drawback being the somewhat bleachy, unpleasant taste.

Did you know...

that, in Nature, rain, snow and droplets on plants have all been shown to contain small concentrations of Hydrogen peroxide. The rishest natural source of peroxidase in plants are horseradish, potatoes and chestnuts.

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Glossary of terms used  in Oxygen therapy

Many people are confused over the meanings of very similar sounding terms relating to Oxygen Therapy so we have listed below a brief glossary:

Oxygen: A colourless, odourless gas, forming about 20% of the atmosphere. It supports combustion and is indispensable to life. Inhalations are given in cases of cyanosis and shock. Applied also in the form of hydrogen peroxide to ulcers and septic wounds.
Ozone: O3. An oxidizing agent sometimes used as a disinfectant.
Oxidant: An oxidising agent.
Antioxidant: A Chemical which neutralise an oxidising agent.
Oxidize: Cause to combine with oxygen.
Oxidation, Oxidisation:The chemical combination of oxygen with a substance producing oxides, etc. Can also denote a reduction in the hydrogen content of a molecule, or a loss of electrons from an atom or molecule resulting in an increased ability to take up oxygen.
Hydrogen peroxide: A valuable non-irritating and non-poisonous antiseptic. It effervesces in the presence of pus due to the liberation of oxygen. Usual strength 10 volumes, i.e. it contains ten times its volume of available oxygen.

Important Notice: Just as vitamin A is essential for our health and well-being but in too high amounts can be toxic to the liver and, in extreme cases, life-threatening, high doses of Hydrogen Peroxide can also be extremely dangerous - it comes in a number of different grades containing various stabilizing agents. It is therefore extremely important not to self administer Hydrogen Peroxide without seeking professional advice.

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For more information about Oxygen Therapy 
including a list of clinics offering Ozone treatment please contact: 
Echo (UK), 
The Centre of Information for Oxygen Therapies, Woodside, Melmerby, Ripon, N.Yorks HG4 5EZ. 
Tel: (01765) 640798

References:

(1) Cancer & Civilisation. paper given to the International Conference on Nutrition and Vital Substances at Aachen and Liege, Sept 1961.

(2) Oliver T.H. , Murphy D.V. Influenzal pneumonia: The intravenous injection of Hydrogen Peroxide. The Lancet Feb 21 1920 p432.

(3) There are a number of animal studiies, but Alternatives in health™ does not keep or search for such studies as information from these cannot be scientifically extrapolated to humans and we have a strict policy opposing animal-based research as it is, at best, of dubious value.

(4) Wells K.H.,Latino J, Gavalchin and Poiesz. Inactivation of Human Immunodeficiency virus type 1 by ozone in vitro. Blood. 78 Oct 1, 1991 pp1882-1890