Can ozone be the elixir of life?

In the painting "The Fountain of Youth" (1546, State Museums Berlin), Lucas Cranach depicted the famous landscape where old and crippled people, upon reaching an oasis, washed and swam in magical water, which made them cross to the other side young, rejuvenated, and ready to start a new life.

The ancient dream of overcoming the aging process and extending life is more relevant today than ever because wealthy people, trusting in the power of their money, hope to buy additional time for their lives on earth. It is now known that life expectancy in Europe has increased to 78 years (from 47 a century ago).

Vaccines, antibiotics, anti-atherosclerosis drugs, vitamins, low-calorie diets with plenty of antioxidants, moderate physical exercises, avoiding tobacco and alcohol have been the main factors for extending life and improving its quality.

Knowledge about the aging process has expanded, and we know that chronic oxidative stress, the formation of advanced glycation end products, telomere shortening, chronic exposure to pollutants, stressful life, physiological decrease in circulating hormones and immunity are factors that shorten life.

Over the last three decades, the hormonal theory of aging has gained ground, leading to the proposal and testing of various hormones such as: estrogen (prevents osteoporosis, improves memory and the HDL/LDL ratio in women), testosterone (increases energy and sexual desire in men), growth hormone, melatonin, and dehydroepiandrosterone (improves mental activity).

Despite these results, the improvement in quality of life is not a permanent finding. Moreover, many questions require answers. A primary concern is that prolonged hormonal therapy is associated with serious side effects. Another problem is that many clinicians prescribe only one hormone in their prescriptions, thus disrupting the physiological balance of the body. Without undermining the importance of this approach, we can conclude that an optimal, balanced, and individualized exogenous therapy has not yet been achieved.

In the literature on ozone therapy, it is reported that most patients feel euphoria and well-being after ozone therapy e.g., about 50% of patients treated with major autohemotherapy (AHTma) for eye problems (ARMD) have also reported improved performance and sexual desire. Is it just belief in this type of treatment (placebo effect) or are messengers generated that modify the secretion and release of certain hormones?

Regarding the analgesic effect of systemic ozone. Is it from cortisol release or from increasing the effect of certain endogenous neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine), similar to the effects of endorphins after intense physical exercise.

Today, the strengthening of the antioxidant system with ozone therapy has been proven. The possibility that with two cycles of systemic ozone therapy (AHTma, FO, RI) per year aging can be delayed is exciting. The treatment cycles consist of 8-10 sessions and are applied in spring and fall. Patients who undergo rectal ozone insufflations report a feeling of euphoria and increased resilience. It is well known that the intestine has an extensive nervous system (our second brain!) that releases serotonin, and perhaps rectal ozone insufflation increases its release (Prof.V.Bocci).

Aging is a multifactorial process and consequently, the administration of a single hormone is not useful for a long time. A long life, or more accurately “a long life without disability and functional dependence” as Hayflick (2000) writes, can be achieved rationally with ozone therapy.

In conclusion: over the last three decades, affluent society has crazily attempted to stay beautiful and healthy for as long as possible. Interestingly, in some villages located in rural areas of the globe, entire clans of centenarians have been described by medical literature (Mecocci et al., 2000). Firstly, these people should thank their genes and then certainly their stress-free life and moderate diet. It has been best shown that mice kept on a low-calorie diet live longer than those fed without restriction. Yu (1996) emphasized the impact of dietary restriction on reducing oxidative stress and extending life. Besides genes, which are currently hard to modify or replace, we can try to extend life with a well-balanced moderate diet, daily physical exercises, correct lifestyle, supplemental antioxidants (not excessive), and, when necessary, drugs to maintain cardiovascular system efficiency. Prevention is the key to success. Exogenous administration of hormones can certainly give an illusory period of rejuvenation, but in the long term, it may have a boomerang effect. For people who place great importance on prevention rules, ozone therapy is useful because it meets a series of basic requirements for maintaining active or revitalized physiological functions. It is capable of:

• strengthening the antioxidant system,
• improving T-cell functions,
• repairing the enzyme system,
• providing a steady and balanced release of hormones and neurotransmitters, with the benefits of increased energy, improved behavior and memory, cancer and atherosclerosis prevention, and maintenance of sexual activity.

With all these, we can say that ozone represents the "fountain of youth" forever.