Ozone is a natural gaseous molecule made up of three oxygen atoms whereas the oxygen molecule, far more stable, is composed of only two atoms. It’s the most powerful oxidant available to man. It’s an effective bleaching agent and a powerful disinfectant, killing bacteria and funguses more rapidly than chlorine. Viruses and carcinogenic substances, which are generally not affected by the other conventional chemical used in water treatment, are also oxidized by ozone. It’s deodorant effect is based on the destruction of substances production noxious odors and not simply on a masking of the odors themselves.

Atmospheric ozone is one of the most important gases in the earth’s stratosphere (at 10 to 50 kilometers above ground level). It’s maximum concentration of up to 1 part O3 per 100,000 parts air (approx.. 10 ppm) is found in the ozonosphere at a height of 20 to 30 kilometers. This ozone layer acts as a filter to high-energy UV radiation from the sun, thus protecting the biological balance on the earth from destruction by hard radiation. When this layer is destroyed (“Ozone Gap”), it’s filter effect can’t function.

The first medical application seems to have been the use of ozone for treating gaseous, post traumatic gangrene in German soldiers during the 1st world war. How ever a big step forward was the invention of a reliable ozoniser for medical use by the physicist Joachim Hansler (1908-1981). The idea to use ozone in medicine developed slowly during the last century and it was stimulated by the lack of antibiotics and the disinfectant properties of ozone. The 2nd World War brought about setbacks for German research into medical ozone, as many clinics and laboratories were destroyed in Allied air raids. It was until the 1950s that clinics reopened and research began again. The first physician to treat cancer with ozone was Dr. W. Zable in the late 1950s, followed by Drs. P. G. Seeger, A. Varro, and H. Werkmeister. During the next twenty years, hundreds of German physicians began using ozone in their practices (both alone and as a complement to traditional medical therapy) to treat a wide variety of diseases through a number of applications. Horst Kief is believed to have been the first doctor to use ozone therapy to successfully treat patients infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Medical ozone is produced from pure medical oxygen via silent electrical discharge and can be applied in the form of an ozone/oxygen mixture at an exact concentration and dose. The concentration range is between 1 – 100 ug/ml corresponding to an oxygen/ozone mixture at ratios between 0.05% O3 and 99,95% O2 up to between 5% O3 and 95% O2. As the O3 molecule is instable, medical ozone is always generated on site each time immediately before application.