Can ozone therapy help treat severe infections?

Sepsis is a serious condition where the body’s response to infection goes out of control, often leading to organ failure and even death. It is especially dangerous when caused by tough bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be hard to treat in hospitals. Doctors usually use antibiotics, but sometimes these medicines are not enough, and the body’s immune system becomes overwhelmed. Because of this, scientists are always looking for new ways to help patients with sepsis. One interesting idea is using ozone, a special type of oxygen, to clean the blood outside the body. Let’s explore how this works and what a recent study found.

What is ozone and how can it help?

Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms (O3), and while it has no natural job in our bodies, it is known for its strong ability to kill germs. In medicine, researchers have experimented with using ozone to help destroy bacteria and adjust how the immune system works. As described in a recent scientific study (see the original research), scientists wanted to find out if running a patient’s blood through a machine that mixes it with ozone—called extracorporeal ozonation—could help fight dangerous bacterial infections like sepsis.

How does the ozone blood treatment work?

In the study, scientists used pigs because their bodies react much like humans. They infected the animals with the harmful Pseudomonas bacteria, then treated some of them by passing blood through a special machine. This machine cooled the blood, mixed in a safe amount of ozone, and then warmed the blood back up before returning it to the body. The idea is that ozone can destroy bacteria and may also help the immune system respond in a healthier way.

What did the researchers discover?

The results were interesting. A single pass of blood through the ozone machine reduced the amount of living Pseudomonas bacteria in the blood by about 53%. However, when looking at the overall blood in the animals’ bodies, there was no big difference in bacterial amounts between the treated and untreated groups. This suggests that while ozone can kill bacteria in the machine, it may need to treat more blood or work for longer to make a bigger difference throughout the body.

But the story doesn’t end there. The study also looked at the immune system’s signals, called cytokines, which are like messengers that tell the body how to react to infection. Some of these cytokines, especially those that cause inflammation (like IL-1β and IL-6), were found at lower levels after ozone treatment. This means ozone might help calm the body’s overactive response during sepsis, which can be just as dangerous as the infection itself. These findings build on earlier research into immune system reactions in sepsis (see comparative immune study).

Effects on the body’s organs and breathing

The scientists also noticed that pigs treated with ozone needed less medicine to keep their blood pressure stable and showed signs that their lungs were working better. For example, they breathed more easily and their lungs were less “leaky,” which is important because sepsis often causes dangerous lung problems. These promising results suggest ozone might help protect organs during severe infections, but more work is needed to know for sure.

Why does this research matter?

Every year, sepsis puts millions of people at risk, and antibiotic resistance is making treatment harder (see infection statistics). Discovering new treatments that help both kill tough bacteria and balance the immune system could save many lives. Ozone therapy is not yet ready for regular use in hospitals and needs further study, especially to see how it works in humans and how to make it more effective.

What it means for patients

For people and families affected by severe infections, new research like this gives hope for the future. While antibiotics are still the main tool doctors use, exploring options like ozone therapy helps us prepare for a world where bacteria grow stronger against our current medicines. Also, as new health technologies like this develop, it’s important to understand how your health data is used and protected. For more on why your health data matters in modern medicine, check out this SlothMD article about the importance of health data. If you’re curious how to keep your medical information safe when using health AI tools, see these simple tips on privacy from SlothMD.

In summary, using ozone to treat blood outside the body is a creative approach that could, with more research, become part of future treatments for deadly infections like sepsis. The study shows how science is exploring new paths, combining medical machines, chemistry, and our growing understanding of the immune system. As health AI and platforms like SlothMD continue to evolve, staying informed about both new treatments and data privacy is more important than ever.