Ozone therapy recently hit the headlines as one of the many treatment options being examined to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, but it is also showing great promise in the treatment of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Treatments that are safe, non-invasive, economical and effective are the holy grail of the medical world. However, such therapies do exist. According to a recent review paper, oxygen-ozone therapy could be an effective treatment for early-stage aging-specific neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease [2].

Longevity.Technology: Because neurodegenerative disease usually develops in mid to later life, the incidence of such disorders is expected to increase exponentially unless effective and affordable treatments can be found to either cure or slow down the progress of these conditions.  

The paper, written by leading scientists in Italy, suggests that rather than treating certain diseases individually, therapies should concentrate on treating a set of linked conditions. Authors, led by Catia Scasselati of Biological Psychiatry Unit, IRCCS in Brescia, Italy, say: “Contrary to a hitherto linear approach that considered one disease, one medicine, to date there is a need for a new concept of therapy condensed as ‘several diseases, one medicine’.”

This sentiment echoes a growing body of opinion that suggests the key to developing effective treatments for aging is to treat aging itself rather than treating each individual condition or disease associated with growing older.

Professor Brian Kennedy, former president and CEO of California’s Buck Institute for Research on Aging, for example, told Longevity.Technology that: “I think we should actually try to treat aging for a change”. Meanwhile, a study in Canada and the US, suggested that using compounds to target the aging process could be an effective way to treat neurodegeneration. 

In ozone therapy medical grade ozone, which is a mixture of oxygen and ozone, is introduced in the body to speed up recovery. It has been found to be effective in healing Covid-19 patients.

While Covid-19 cases are showing a downward trend, the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19 pandemic hitting the country around festival season cannot be ruled out. If there is anything that the deadly second wave of pandemic has taught us, it is to not let our guards down. Health experts across the world are also looking at alternative therapies to fight Covid-19 and one of the treatment options that show promise is ozone therapy.

In this therapy medical grade ozone, which is a mixture of oxygen and ozone, is introduced in the body intravenously. It is said to stimulate body's immunity which helps fight Covid infection and heal the body.

"As per clinical trial conducted in mid 2020 ozone therapy showed recovery rate of 77% within five days and by the eighth day all the patients from ozone group recovered. Ozone therapy has a greater impact in controlling the infection as patient suffers from various conditions such as circulatory disorders leading to clotting or thrombosis, headaches, lung infection, body pain and breathlessness situations. We have given ozone therapy to more than 700 patients in Mumbai and Pune," says Dr. Mili Shah, President, Ozone Forum of India.