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Last month I went to the first international congress for ozone use in dentistry and medicine. Presenters came from the US, Germany, South Africa, Egypt, Cuba and Brazil. Their research was remarkable.

Ozone has been adopted for dental application by 100,000 dentists around the world, but few in the United States. Because of its highly potent antibacterial properties, it is highly effective in treating periodontal disease, dental abscesses and root canals. Difficult to manage problems can be rapidly resolved using ozone. Aseptic necrosis of the mandible, a serious complication of bisphosphonate drugs used for osteoporosis, can heal with ozone. Children’s cavities can be treated without anesthetic injections and without drilling, with a topical application of ozone, leaving the kids smiling and with thumbs up.

In Egypt, severe third degree burns occurred on the chests and breasts of women when their stoves exploded, causing enormous pain, scarring and disfigurement. However, when ozone was applied to the skin dissolved in water, in an ozone sauna, and by rectal insufflation or intravenously, the burns healed rapidly and without scar formation. Severe leg ulcers penetrating through muscle to the bone were healed with ozone, within 2-3 months, primarily by wrapping a bag around the extremity and filling it with ozone gas, or spraying on ozone dissolved in water. Many limbs were saved. Photographs revealing thorough healing of terrible wounds were nearly incredible.

Ozone has been used in Cuba to treat many medical problems over the last twenty years. Over 2 million treatments have been given with rare, minor adverse reactions. Administration has been mainly by rectal insufflation through a thin, inert tubing. Rectal ozone is absorbed through the intestinal lining and circulates throughout the body.

Improvement has been seen in two degenerative eye conditions: macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.

Also treated:

• Parkinson disease: 70% of patients responded
• Alzheimer disease: 70-80% improved when treated early in the disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease: Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis- inject ozone into the rectum, initially several times a week, later once a week or two. Diverticulitis can also be treated with rectal ozone.
• Interstitial cystitis: inject ozone into the bladder through a catheter, starting slowly with low concentrations in small amounts, then building up.
• Rheumatic arthritis and scleroderma: ozone alters immune function by causing a controlled oxidative effect, mobilizing the body’s antioxidant defenses, and resolving inflammation.
• Heart disease: intravenous ozone reduces inflammation within coronary arteries.

We have used ozone injections in our practice to treat joint, muscle, tendon and ligament pain over the last year, with excellent results in many patients. Ozone is injected after prolotherapy solution, through the same needle. Pain is usually minimal. We have treated knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, ankles, necks, lower backs, thumbs, and wrists. Even patients with severe degenerative arthritis have responded. I believe this treatment should be offered routinely before proceeding with surgery.

Peyronie’s syndrome, curvature of the penis due to fibrosis, can be improved with local injections of ozone with procaine.

Skin infections, including herpes simplex and herpes zoster, and bacterial cellulitis can be treated with ozone dissolved in olive oil. The oil is simply applied locally several times a day. Topical ozone in olive oil can resolve fungal toenail infections, called onychomycosis.

Eye infections, including conjunctivitis, and herpes keratitis, can be treated with ozone dissolved in water.

Lipomas in the skin can be dissolved by injecting them with ozone.

Ozone dissolved in soap can soften skin and make it look more youthful.

Ozone therapy is a widely effective modality, in some infections more effective than antibiotics, without the side effects. It can provide healing in inflammatory conditions in place of toxic immunosuppressives. It is an invaluable adjunct in dental procedures. It is highly effective in traumatic and degenerative orthopedic conditions.

Allan Sosin, M.D.

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Ozone is a gas produced from oxygen in a special machine. It is an activated form of oxygen, and works through several mechanisms to heal and grow new tissues, mainly through the enhanced production of energy within cells. Ozone diffuses easily throughout the area where it is injected, so a single injection can treat several damaged points in the same space. Even severely degenerated joints may respond, so it is worthwhile to attempt prolozone therapy when surgery is the only other option.

Over the last year we have treated knees, hips, shoulders, ankles, elbows, necks and lower backs, often with improvement after only one or two treatments. Treatments are given at least two weeks apart to allow for full treatment benefit. Treatments can be repeated indefinitely, since effects are cumulative.

Prolozone can also be used to treat headaches, scar pain, dental and sinus infections.

Call us to schedule an evaluation for treatment.

Allan Sosin, M.D.

Prolozone Success

“After being told this last year by an orthopedic surgeon that I needed a left hip replacement I was more than a little depressed. And while looking at the x-ray of my pelvis he quickly added that it would not be too long before I would most likely also need to have my right hip replaced. This was February 2012.

Luckily after going home and doing some research on what the hip surgery involved and what the results might be I remembered reading about prolozone in one of the medical newsletters I subscribed to from a Dr. Frank Shallenberger. Fortunately I located the information right where I had filed it and I was also able to find Dr. Allan Sosin and his Institute for Progressive Medicine through a directory reference in Dr. Shallenberger’s medical newsletter.

Upon meeting Dr. Sosin in my initial consultation for the prolozone treatment I immediately felt at ease and based on his answers to my questions developed a sense of confidence that even if he couldn’t cure my hip problems he could at least minimize the pain and restore my ease of movement. I also informed Dr. Sosin that I was also experiencing some pain in my right knee.

I have had a total of six prolozone injections to my left hip, three to my right knee, and two to my right hip. Although I am not totally cured, the reduction in pain and restoration of painless movement in all three areas is very considerable. I would say that there has been about a 70% improvement in the healing of these three areas. It is now November 2012 and I have received prolozone treatments from Dr. Sosin since June 2012. I plan to continue the prolozone treatments until I feel I am 100% cured in these three areas of my body. I thank God for doctors like Dr. Sosin and Dr. Shallenberger.”

-M.A.

Recently I requested a patient’s records, and was sent an E-mail containing 300 pages of notes, largely illegible and mostly irrelevant. It took me half an hour to obtain a few bits of useful information that could have been expressed in one paragraph.

Last week a patient showed me a sheet of paper on which she had produced, on two sides, her entire significant medical history containing all operations, serious illnesses, medications, allergies, names and contact information for all her physicians.

You should do this for yourself, and carry that sheet of paper in your wallet or purse, or put the information in your cell phone. Should an emergency occur, medical personnel would have instant access to pertinent information without having to dial into a central system and wade through piles of useless data.

Government mandates often create duplication and waste, and in this case may well violate individual rights to privacy. I think it is best to keep your own records on your person, in brief and organized fashion, and offer them when you go for evaluation or treatment.

Allan Sosin, M.D.

Screening mammography, or mammography performed in the absence of symptoms, has doubled the frequency of detection of early-stage breast cancer, from 112 to 234 cases per 100,000 women each year. However, the rate at which women have presented with advanced breast cancer has only slightly declined, by 8 cases per 100,000 women. This suggests that many of the cancers detected by mammography are not aggressive, and would never lead to symptomatic disease. Detection of these inactive cancers represent overdiagnosis, the discovery of cancers that would not cause illness. The authors estimate that in 2008, breast cancer was overdiagnosed in over 70,000 women, representing 31% of all diagnosed breast cancers. In the last three decades, breast cancer overdiagnosis has affected over one million women.

Mammograms are painful, and expose the woman to radiation which itself may cause breast cancer. Abnormal mammograms nearly always lead to biopsy, and, if cancer is detected, surgery followed by radiation and hormone suppressive therapy, and sometimes chemotherapy.

Influential vested interests, applying the fear factor, have strongly promoted yearly mammography for all women starting at the age of 40. This point of view may not be valid, and may lead to massive overtreatment and associated side effects and complications.

Two years ago it was recommended that PSA screening for prostate cancer be discontinued, after it was found that many prostate cancers do not progress, and will never be lethal. The natural history of breast cancer, especially ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), may be the same. The most effective recommendation for breast cancer screening may be an evaluation of patient lifestyle and family history, with mammography reserved for those at apparent higher risk. On the other hand, palpable breast masses and breast pain should be evaluated with mammography.

Allan Sosin, M.D.

At the Institute for Progressive Medicine we were involved in a number of new protocols this last year.

We began using ozone therapy, with excellent results in several areas.

Ozone is a gas, produced in a generator through the activation of oxygen. It is highly effective at killing bacteria, fungi and viruses. It can be applied to the skin in olive or neem oil to heal skin infections including herpes and shingles, to improve acne, and to suppress onychomycosis, or toenail fungus. It can help to heal mouthsores and skin ulcers. Ozone may be infused intravenously in saline to treat infections such as bronchitis or pneumonia, or to improve chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis by enhancing immune function. Research performed in Cuba documents improvements in macular degeneration and other eye disorders with intravenous therapy.

Ozone can also be given by enema to heal intestinal inflammatory disorders, such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

This last year we have been using ozone as a component of injections for treating joint, ligament and muscle injuries and degeneration, including osteoarthritis. It can be given in the same injection with prolotherapy, which is a combination of glucose and procaine, use for many years as an alternative treatment for joint, muscle and tendon problems . This combination, called prolozone, can be injected into shoulders, hips, knees, lower backs, necks and forearms, and almost all other affected jonts. Injections may be given every two weeks. Prolozone works to strengthen tissue while reducing pain, sometimes avoiding the need for surgery. We also have a new technique for injecting platelet rich plasma, or PRP, along with prolozone, to provide even more effective healing. Platelet rich plasma is extracted from a patient’s blood and injected into affected areas. Platelets contain powerful growth factors that stimulate the healing process.

These injections can be applied as part of a comprehensive treatment program along with physical therapy, chiropractic, massage and acupuncture, and therapeutic exercises like Pilates, yoga or tai chi, to promote healing without the need for surgery.

Call our office to discuss whether this therapy may be appropriate for you.

Neurotransmitter Therapy:

Depression, anxiety, and many other emotional disorders are affected by imbalances of hormones, mainly serotonin and dopamine, which regulate the central nervous system. Conventional medicine offers drugs that block the reuptake of these hormones, thought to enhance their activity. However, these drugs have often serious side effects and may even make people feel worse. Withdrawal from these drugs can be very difficult.
Instead we offer basic amino acid therapies, using 5-hydroxytryptophan, a precursor of serotonin, and L-tyrosine, the precursor of dopamine, in combination to enhance production of both groups of neurotransmitters. We measure urine levels of these compounds to adjust dosages and establish a balance between them.

These amino acids have helped many patients get off psychiatric drugs, and helped others withdraw from recreational drugs. Our protocol was devised by Marty Hinz, MD, who has written articles on the; subject, available on his website (www.hinzmd.com). Other medical conditions, including Parkinsons disease and Crohn’s disease, can respond to this protocol, sometimes without the need for medications.

Enhanced External Counterpulsation:

We continue to witness the benefits of lifestyle changes along with external counterpulsation therapy (EECP) in the treatment of heart disease, including chest pain and congestive heart failure. People who would otherwise require cardiac catheterization and stent placement, or even cardiac bypass surgery, have been able to eliminate symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath. Cardiac stress testing documents reversal of circulation defects.. Age is no contraindication to therapy. A recent successful patient was over 90 years old.

EECP involves placement of inflatable cuffs on the legs and pelvis, and inflating them with air under high pressure. This generates a flow of blood into cardiac arteries through the aorta, and growth of new vessels. The treatment is non-invasive and safe.

Our cardiac dietary program is mainly vegan, aiming to reduce dietary fat intake as much as possible. We have seen blood pressure and cholesterol come down, and diabetes disappear.

Hormone Replacement Therapy:

Hundreds of women and men in our practice receive hormone replacement therapy. The benefits continue to be nothing short of amazing for many people, who when they come to see us are not aware that their symptoms are largely a result of hormone deficiency. Many symptoms normally thought to belong to psychiatric problems, “aging”, or dementia, dissolve when hormones are replenished.

If you have a sleeping problem, depression, anxiety, fatigue, memory loss, trouble concentrating, loss of sexual interest or capability, lack of energy, excess abdominal fat, have been under excessive stress, or have been taking psychiatric drugs, recreational drugs or alcohol, or experienced recent physical trauma from an accident or surgery, consider that you may have a hormonal deficiency. Stress can result from hormone deficiency, or may itself cause hormone deficiency by suppressing pituitary function.

Some physicians in their ignorance consider hormone replacement therapy to be dangerous, and will not prescribe it, even resorting to antidepressant therapy when the basic problem is hormone deficiency. They subject their patients to the adverse effects of sedatives and antidepressants without addressing the real cause of symptoms.

In twenty years of offering bioidentical hormone therapy, I have seen few adverse effects, and they have been far outweighed by the relief provided. Convincing research demonstrates no increased risk of cancer of the breast, uterus, or prostate when bioidentical hormones are properly prescribed.

We utilize transdermal creams and gels, sublingual drops and pellets, injections, and subcutaneous pellets, choosing to avoid oral capsules because of negative liver effects on hormonal action.

If you have questions about your own hormonal status, call our office to arrange for simple testing.

The goal of all our programs is to improve health without the use of drugs or surgery as much as possible. Conventional medicine fails to promote the body’s immense resources for self-healing. Over the years we have helped thousands of people resolve health situations by utilizing lifestyle changes often combined with nutritional supplements, and acting on the results of particular testing, including food allergies, gastrointestinal imbalances, and heavy metals. We also apply intravenous vitamins and minerals, detoxification, acupuncture, chiropractic, and massage. Nothing makes us feel better than to see someone improve, and regain the opportunity to enjoy life.

Allan Sosin, M.D.

Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a painful rash occurring on one side of the body only. It usually involves the chest or abdomen, but may affect any area, including the face. Direct involvement of the eye, though uncommon, is a medical emergency, since vision may be permanently impaired.

Shingles is due only to reactivation of the chickenpox virus that has been dormant in the body, usually for years.  It does not occur by transmission from other individuals. Factors that impair immune function, such as physical or emotional stress, nutritional deficiency or steroid use, may activate the virus from its location within nerve cells, where it resides.

The shingles vaccine is effective in about 50% of vaccinated persons, but is less effective in older people.  In persons over 80 years of age, it is only 20% effective. Duration of effect is considered to be about 5 years. Because it is a live virus vaccine, it should not be given to those with immune deficiencies, including people with leukemia, lymphoma, HIV, or on high doses of steroids or immunosuppressive agents. The vaccine does reduce the risk of post-herpetic neuralgia, pain that persists for more than 3 months after infection, by two-thirds.

Shingles can be treated effectively with the anti-viral agent acyclovir, Valtrex, or Famvir, if diagnosed early.  In our practice we have also seen substantial benefits with intravenous vitamin C, ozone or ultraviolet light therapy, and with acupuncture.  We have not seen an instance of post-herpetic neuralgia in years.

We will provide the vaccine if requested.  However, I believe it is generally not necessary because of potent available therapies, and the limited rate of effectiveness.

Allan Sosin, M.D.

A new study of acupuncture — the most rigorous and detailed analysis of the treatment to date — found that it can ease migraines and arthritis and other forms of chronic pain.

The findings provide strong scientific support for an age-old therapy used by an estimated three million Americans each year. Though acupuncture has been studied for decades, the body of medical research on it has been mixed and mired to some extent by small and poor-quality studies. Financed by the National Institutes of Health and carried out over about half a decade, the new research was a detailed analysis of earlier research that involved data on nearly 18,000 patients.

The researchers, who published their results in Archives of Internal Medicine, found that acupuncture outperformed sham treatments and standard care when used by people suffering from osteoarthritis, migraines and chronic back, neck and shoulder pain.

“This has been a controversial subject for a long time,” said Dr. Andrew J. Vickers, attending research methodologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the lead author of the study. “But when you try to answer the question the right way, as we did, you get very clear answers.

“We think there’s firm evidence supporting acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain.”

Acupuncture, which involves inserting needles at various places on the body to stimulate so-called acupoints, is among the most widely practiced forms of alternative medicine in the country and is offered by many hospitals. Most commonly the treatment is sought by adults looking for relief from chronic pain, though it is also used with growing frequency in children. According to government estimates, about 150,000 children in the United States underwent acupuncture in 2007.

But for all its popularity, questions about its efficacy have long been commonplace. Are those who swear by it experiencing true relief or the psychological balm of the placebo effect?

Dr. Vickers and a team of scientists from around the world — England, Germany, Sweden and elsewhere — sought an answer by pooling years of data. Rather than averaging the results or conclusions from years of previous studies, a common but less rigorous form of meta-analysis, Dr. Vickers and his colleagues first selected 29 randomized studies of acupuncture that they determined to be of high quality. Then they contacted the authors to obtain their raw data, which they scrutinized and pooled for further analysis. This helped them correct for statistical and methodological problems with the previous studies, allowing them to reach more precise and reliable conclusions about whether acupuncture actually works.

All told, the painstaking process took the team about six years. “Replicating pretty much every single number reported in dozens of papers is no quick or easy task,” Dr. Vickers said.

The meta-analysis included studies that compared acupuncture with usual care, like over-the-counter pain relievers and other standard medicines. It also included studies that used sham acupuncture treatments, in which needles were inserted only superficially, for example, or in which patients in control groups were treated with needles that covertly retracted into handles.

Ultimately, Dr. Vickers and his colleagues found that at the end of treatment, about half of the patients treated with true acupuncture reported improvements, compared with about 30 percent of patients who did not undergo it.

“There were 30 or 40 people from all over the world involved in this research, and as a whole the sense was that this was a clinically important effect size,” Dr. Vickers said. That is especially the case, he added, given that acupuncture “is relatively noninvasive and relatively safe.”