A brief history of ozone therapy

Compilation based on the work of Adriana Schwartz, PhD.

Ozone has been known since ancient times — in Greek, ozein means "smelling gas".

Discovery of ozone

Ozone was discovered in 1785 by the Dutch physicist Martinus van Marum (1750–1837), who perceived a peculiar odour near electrostatic machines. It was not until May 1840 that the German chemist Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799–1868) synthesised it. His collaborator Liebig suggested the term "ozonised oxygen".

In 1857 Werner von Siemens built the first superior induction tube, enabling the first attempts to destroy microorganisms and the first gas insufflations in animals and humans. In 1870 the German doctor Lender published on the biological effects of ozone in water disinfection — a discovery that revolutionised the medicine of the time, 70 years before the emergence of penicillin.

In 1885 the Florida Medical Association published the first textbook on the medical applications of ozone. In 1893 the first facility for disinfecting and purifying water for human consumption was created in the Netherlands.

Nikola Tesla patented his first ozone generator in 1896 and, in 1900, founded a company manufacturing generators for medical use; he was the first to ozonate olive oil.

Medical ozone in the 20th century

• 1911 — Dr Noble Eberhart (Loyola University, Chicago) documented the use of ozone for a range of conditions and created the first university teaching centre dedicated, among other things, to ozone therapy.
• Germany — Dr Blass founded the first German ozone-therapy association in 1913. During the First World War, Dr Wolf extended its use to the topical treatment of infected wounds and gangrene. In 1932 the dentist Dr Fisch published applications in dentistry. In 1935 Edwin Payr demonstrated ozone's wound-healing effect. Dr Wolf later published Medical Ozone, considered the classic reference book on the subject.
• Following the appearance of ozone-resistant plastics, in 1957 Dr Hänsler manufactured the first modern ozone generator, the basis of today's devices. In 1961 Dr Hans Wolff introduced major and minor autohemotherapy into practice, and the German Society of Ozone Therapy was created in the early 1970s.

Russia and Cuba

In the 1970s, Russian researchers reported the successful use of ozone in burns patients and in bronchial asthma. In 1977 the first experiment with ozonated saline solution was performed, later widely developed in humans. Russia became the first country to regularise and implement ozone therapy at state level (dermatology and cosmetology in 2005; gynaecology, obstetrics, neonatology, traumatology and burns in 2007).

In Cuba, ozone therapy was introduced in 1986, and the government founded the Ozone Research Center in 1992, which became an international benchmark for ozone therapists worldwide.

This is an educational summary. Ozone therapy is a complementary, adjunctive medical treatment performed by a licensed physician.