Can Ozone Therapy Make a Babesia Infection Worse?

by | Last updated: Nov 17, 2018 | o3 myths debunked, ozone therapy | 15 comments

This is a question which comes up in our group repeatedly . When I say “our group” I mean The Ozone Group, a Facebook group full of ozone enthusiasts which anyone is welcome to join. Some of our members wonder whether ozone, being a form of oxygen, could make an aerobic bacterial infection like Babesia worse.

After looking into this in depth, I realized the following: ozone is not able to make Babesia, or any other bacterial infection, grow. Ozone has been shown to successfully kill both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. The fact that a microorganism can survive in an oxygen rich environment can not protect it from ozone’s bactericidal powers.

But first, let's look at:

What is Babesia?

Babesia is an aerobic parasite similar to the parasite that causes malaria. Both parasites infect the blood of their victims, since blood is an oxygen-rich medium where this type of parasites do well. Babesia is often a co-infection of Lyme disease, which means that it often appears alongside this illness.

It is often transmitted by tick bites. The same tick that carries Lyme disease can simultaneously carry the Babesia infection. Some patients have no symptoms when they have a Babesia infection. Others may begin with a high fever and chills, then progress to higher levels of symptoms, ultimately including serious complications. Symptoms of Babesia infections may include headaches, muscle aches, joint pain, and abdominal pain. Patients may experience bruising of the skin, yellow eyes and skin, or mood changes as a result of the infection. In serious cases, patients may experience shortness of breath and extreme sweats with no exertion. Ultimately, patients infected with Babesia may face very low blood pressure, kidney failure, liver problems, and other serious complications as a result of the illness. 

It's little wonder that patients who have been infected by Babesia worry about the potential course of treatment. It's important to be sure that you understand how treatment could impact your illness so that you're able to receive appropriate treatment for both Lyme disease and Babesia, depending on the severity of symptoms and the infection. 

Here are the four main reasons why ozone therapy can’t make Babesia worse:

Ozone kills both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.

1. Ozone kills both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria

There are a number of studies that have shown the effectiveness of ozone in killing both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. This means that Babesia is just as susceptible to these destructive powers as other bacteria.

Examples:

“Efficacy of ozone on microorganisms in the tooth root canal”

“Antimicrobial Effects of Ozone Gel Against Periodontal Bacteria”

“Effects of Gaseous Ozone Exposure on Bacterial Counts and Oxidative Properties in Chicken and Duck Breast Meat”: Ozone effectively reduced the growth of coliform, aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in both chicken and duck breast.

“Bactericidal activity of ozone against Escherichia coli in whole and ground black peppers”

“Activity of ozonated water and ozone against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

“Effect of low-dose gaseous ozone on pathogenic bacteria

Ozone Inactivation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Shigella sonnei and Salmonella typhimurium in Water.”

This is just a small collection of studies which show that pathogenic, so disease causing aerobic bacteria, like

Escherichia coli

Diptheria

Salmonella

Bacillus Anthracis

Streptococci

Shigella

… can all be destroyed or their numbers can be significantly reduced by ozone.

Certainly, different bacteria react differently to ozone. Some of them are more difficult to kill with ozone than others. In general, however, this boils down to simply increasing either concentration of ozone or exposure to it in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. 

Just as no organism can feed on fire, in the same way no organism can feed on ozone. 

2. It's impossible for any living organism to feed on ozone

Babesia is an aerobic organism. This means that it grows when oxygen is present and thrives in oxygen-rich environments. The idea is that when a human is subjected to a form of oxygen therapy like ozone therapy, pathogens could begin to grow and increase in number, rather than dying. This would mean that ozone therapy would make the situation worse, rather than helping to treat the patient. 

The truth, however, is that ozone isn't just standard oxygen. Rather, it's activated or electrified oxygen. This means that its antimicrobial properties are completely different–therefore ensuring that it does not create an environment for Babesia and other pathogens to thrive. When ozone is brought into contact with bacteria or viruses, it burns holes in their outer layers, which leads to their disintegration. Ozone creates this response in any microscopic organism. It's not possible for pathogens to become resistant to ozone, just as cells and organisms do not, over time, become resistant to fire. Just like no living organism can grow, multiply, or get bigger when exposed to fire, so bacteria, viruses, and pathogens exposed to ozone can not thrive.

3. Any living organism exposed to ozone will die 

Babesia is a parasite, not a bacteria. According to this train of thought, it's bigger than bacteria and therefore much more difficult to kill than microscopic pathogens.

The reality, however, is that any living organism, no matter how large, will die when exposed to ozone in sufficient quantities. Ozone has been used to great effect, for example, to kill bedbugs, fleas, cockroaches, and other highly resistant pests that are known to infect homes while remaining incredibly hard to kill. These insects are millions of times bigger than Babesia. They're all aerobes.

The same thing happens to oxygen loving mammals or plants.

If the ozone concentration is high enough or long enough, every living organism will be destroyed by ozone.

4. The entire premise that Babesia will feed on ozone is wrong

The idea that Babesia could thrive on oxygen appears to have emerged from the false notion that ozone only kills the bad, or anaerobic bacteria, and makes the good guys, the aerobic bacteria, either thrive or does not kill them.

As I have shown above, aerobic does not automatically mean that the bacteria is beneficial. Some of the most deadly bugs are aerobes.

Same with anaerobic: the fact that a bacteria thrives in an oxygen deprived environment does not automatically mean it’s bad. Most of our good gut guys are strict anaerobes. Best example: the highly important oxalobacter formigenes.

And yet, when some people ask whether ozone during rectal insufflations could possibly do some damage to the good gut biome, some people still answer that no, this is impossible because ozone only kills the bad, or anaerobes, and only kills the good guys, the aerobes.

As explained this is completely wrong.

In essence, the entire argument that suggests that you can use ozone therapy to selectively kill only certain types of bacteria is fundamentally flawed.

Bottom line

If you have a Babesia infection, there is no reason to forgo ozone therapy. It can strengthen your immune system and help you fight the infection. No pathogen can feed and grow on ozone, just like there is no live form which can grow and feed on fire.

 

About the author:

PaolaI’m Paola the Crazy Old Ozone Lady behind The Power of Ozone. I’m a licensed naturopathic practitioner, natural health consultant, ozone therapy enthusiast, researcher, and ozone therapy analyst. I hold certificates in ozone therapy, hyperbaric ozone applications, Oxyvenierung, and the Andrew Cutler chelation. I own several ozone generators including a German hyperbaric 10 Pass machine. I have been using ozone for over 13 years, I’ve chelated with the ACC program for close to 5 years and I’ve been carnivore for nearly 1.5 years. This website serves as a resource for those who are interested in ozone therapy and other approaches to successfully manage chronic conditions. 

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15 Comments

  1. Ron

    my babesia symptoms are a vague sense of imbalance and loss of musscle mass. I weigh about 128 lbs. average – down from 135 and am 5”7”.
    what calibration is best for anal insuflation and how much?
    Your accent is pleasant; no need to focus on it at all.

    Thanks for the info.

    Reply
    • Paola Dziwetzki

      Hi Ron,

      I don't think there is a specific, tried & tested Babesia protocol for ozone, especially not RI.

      If you truly are dealing with a systemic infection, I would rather look into ozone IVs or ozone saunas.

      If you want to continue with RI, then I'd do 30 to 40 mcg/ml and a volume of 200 to 400 ml.

      Best,

  2. Kim Leonoudakis

    Interesting. IV Ozone (MAH) got rid of all my Babesia symptoms. I had to do a lot of sessions but it worked. Thank you Paola for your informative site.

    Reply
    • Maciej Wisniewski

      Kim how many, please give me some hope last 6 weeks i got once a week and sill no improvement, how long it took for you ?

    • Maria

      Kim, I also would like to know since I have done 5 IV now and 2 rectal and no improvement so far. Thank you.

  3. LUIS F BARRADAS

    Hello Paola,
    Do you know any protocol to bath the eye ( with eyelid closed) with ozonized distilled water, for glaucoma?
    If it was done before, what would be the protocol?
    (O2 flow, Gamma, duration of the water ozonization, duration of the contact with the eyelid, frequency of treatment)

    Thank you for you work,
    Regards

    Reply
  4. helen

    hi sorry to be thick, trying to understand fully – does this mean that if taking ozone treatments regularly then it will damage the ‘good' gut bacteria as it does not kill selectively ?

    other than taking probiotics constantly, what to do

    have i understood this correctly

    kind regards

    Reply
    • paola d

      Hi helen,
      yes, in my estimation, this could happen. I also mentioned this in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpPdlo3XOGQ&t=4s

      This is why I recommend to insert lower amounts of ozone to minimize that risk.

      Best,

    • helen

      thank you Paola, food for thought there – very interesting

    • Kike

      Hello everyone!
      I recently got the information that the good gut bacteria would be destroyed anyway given you've ever had antibiotics sometime in your life.
      Any thoughts?
      Regards
      Kike

    • paola d

      Hi Kike,

      yes, antibiotics can do great damage to the gut bacteria.
      One of the possible side effects of taking antibiotics are C. difficile infections which can be life threatening.

      Best,

  5. Bryan

    I've had 30 ten passes, and ozone can definitely make babesia worse, no question about it. But for me, the benefit still greatly outweighs that

    Reply
    • paola d

      Hi Bryan,
      Why do you think that ozone made Babesia worse in your case?
      Best,

    • bryan

      I am sure that ozone itself can't make babesia worse, as you say, like fire. But ozone doesn't reach all the tissues in tact, and a lot of oxygen increases to the areas, and babesia gets worse with oxygen. I have experienced this myself many times, especially with hyperbaric oxygen and to a lesser extent with ten pass. However, I still find ten pass VERY worth it, as my babesia flare ups go away very quickly.

    • paola d

      Hi Bryan,

      a human being breathes in 7 to 8 liters of air per minute.
      That's 7 LPM x 60 min = 420 liters of air in an hour.
      20% of that are oxygen, so 420 x 0.2 = 84 liters of pure oxygen that you take in every HOUR through your lungs. Just by breathing.

      A 10 pass consists of the delivery of 2 liters of ozone/oxygen mix. At an ozone concentration of 70 mcg/ml this amounts to around 95% pure oxygen and 5% ozone. Let's say for argument's sake that it's 100% oxygen that you're getting (and since you admit that the ozone component is unlikely what could feed Babesia). So that's 2 liters of oxygen you would be getting with a 10 pass within a time frame of 1 to 2 hours or however long it takes to perform a 10 pass.

      That's 1% to 2% of the oxygen amount that you take in through your lungs anyway simply by breathing during the same amount of time.

      As you can see, the amount of oxygen delivered during a 10 pass is insignificant.

      So, if your Babesia infection was directly responding to the amount of oxygen delivered to your system, it's unlikely that the 10 pass or any other ozone modality would have any significant impact.

      Also, the fact that overall you say you're getting benefit from ozone, makes it unlikely that the ozone protocols you're receiving have a negative effect on your Babesia population. If Babesia grows, this can be life threatening. It causes hemolysis.

      It may very well be that you're experiencing some sort of reaction after the 10 pass which *feels* as if an infection was getting worse. But it's highly unlikely that that's what is truly happening.

      Best,

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