When it comes to treating cancer...
ONE oxygen atom can make
a BIG difference!

    There's a world of difference between O2—the oxygen you're used to breathing in every second of the day—and O3, also known as ozone.

    You already know that it's critical for your body to receive sufficient oxygen. After all, you need this lifesaving element to...

Continued below. . .

• Keep your heart, lungs and brain working properly…
• Help your cells produce the fuel ATP…
• Burn glucose for energy…
• Rid your body of harmful bacteria…

    When your cells don't get proper amounts of oxygen, your immune system weakens and your body becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and disease. So without a doubt oxygen is essential to life!

    Now what about O3, or ozone? Well, instead of two oxygen atoms bound together, as in O2, ozone has THREE. That one little atom is the difference between a common, ho-hum element we breathe every second -- and an amazing healer!

    And despite the fact that it's also a form of oxygen, ozone behaves in a totally different way in your body. This may be why its use is still viewed as controversial in the U.S.

    But my guess is that -- like many natural treatments—the medical establishment shuns it because they can't patent it and reap a financial windfall!

    A famous German physician, Dr. Horst Kief, once said, "If ozone therapy were patentable, it would be used in every physician's office and in every hospital in the world." But you can't patent it, so conventional medicine takes no interest in it.

    Nevertheless, ozone has been a successful disease fighter worldwide for well over 50 years! We've encountered it many times in our tours of alternative cancer clinics in Germany, Mexico, the United States and Switzerland.

    We wrote about ozone therapy way back in Issue 31. But I recently heard a talk by a famous doctor that got me jazzed about it again.

More U.S. doctors are getting on board…

    One of the foremost proponents of ozone therapies in the U.S. is primary care physician Dr. Frank Shallenberger. He's so convinced of this treatment's value, he's been using it to treat patients for over 25 years.

    Speaking at the 40^th Annual meeting of the Cancer Control Society, Dr. Shallenberger explained the difference between the ways your cells respond to oxygen as opposed to ozone.

    Oxygen therapies, such as those provided through hyperbaric chambers or a face mask and tank, increase the delivery of the O2 form of oxygen to your tissues.

    For example, this may be helpful to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some people with this condition may need additional oxygen to help them breathe during the day or if their condition worsens temporarily.

    But here's the thing about oxygenation… simply sending more oxygen to tissues isn't all that effective in treating cancer, according to Dr. Shallenberger.

    Cancer cells already live in a high oxygen environment. But the mitochondria—the cell energy factories—aren't able to use the oxygen surrounding them!

    Dr. Shallenberger said this is what Dr. Otto Warburg of the Kaiser Institute in Berlin discovered decades ago.

    Dr. Warburg said the key to fighting cancer successfully is to help cells metabolize energy more efficiently. His conclusions made a major impact on medical research and even garnered a Nobel prize twice, in 1931 and in 1944!

    So here's where ozone therapy provides a superior solution.

    Rather than simply sending more oxygen to cells, ozone works deep within the cells, stimulating mitochondria to use the oxygen that's already available.

    Dr. Shallenberger said ozone addresses three critical factors:

• It treats the cause of cancer
• It maximizes the patient's vitality and immunity
• It controls cancer cell growth

    Ozone therapy is toxic to unhealthy cells while being non-toxic to healthy cells. That means it can selectively kill cancer cells, among other sick cells. It's also what Dr. Shallenberger calls a strong metabolic stimulant.

    By this he means ozone stimulates damaged or injured cells to heal when they normally wouldn't be able to. He reports that ozone therapy, for example, cures angina and heals heart tissue damaged by a heart attack.

    In fact, he said he has used ozone treatments to combat a host of diseases and conditions, including allergies… autoimmune disorders… cardiovascular disease… chronic fatigue… diabetes… lyme disease… lung disease… macular degeneration… and more!

    At the conference, he highlighted ozone therapy as a complementary treatment for folks who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments. This is important news for people who don't want to turn their back completely on conventional medicine. Dr. Shallenberger said ozone treatments actually enhance the effects of this medicine.

    He said studies show side effects associated with chemo drugs are noticeably milder when taken in tandem with ozone treatments.

There's more than one way to skin a cat—
AND kill a cancer cell!

    Ozone is toxic to cancer cells—and even DESTROYS them when you apply it directly. But if direct application isn't an option, don't worry.

    There are several ways to administer ozone treatments for therapeutic purposes. Dr. Shallenberger mentioned four different ways ozone can be administered. They are:

1. Autohemotherapy— medical grade ozone gas is mixed with a patient's drawn blood, then infused back into the person
2. Insufflation—basically an ozone enema; the patient gets ozone through a catheter inserted in the colon
3. Transdermal ozone sauna—ozone gas is administered through sauna spray; this is a less invasive but equally effective way to receive the benefits of ozone
4. Ozonated saline therapy—infuse saline solution that has been mixed with ozone gas

    Dr. Shallenberger said any of these methods will deliver ozone effectively to help battle abnormal cell growth.

Ozone evangelists have united!

    Despite the evidence of its successful use in clinics around the world, many U.S. doctors hesitate to embrace ozone treatments.

    Part of this is due to pressure from the "powers that be" to reject natural medicine. And some doctors would prefer to see more evidence from U.S. sponsored studies.

    To help address some of these concerns, Dr. Shallenberger formed the American Academy of Ozonotherapy (AAO) in December 2010.

    This group has three primary goals:

• To establish standards for the use of ozone therapy
• To educate others about the medical uses of this treatment
• To promote research in ozone therapy

    The AAO accepts only degreed practitioners including medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, naturopathic doctors, veterinarians, chiropractic doctors, dentists, oriental medical doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

    AAO members must attend a certification course and pass a written exam. They must also submit case examples demonstrating their use of ozone therapy with their patients.

    These efforts are designed to ensure that AAO certified practitioners are fully trained and experienced.

    Despite its status as an 'unconventional' treatment—you actually can find specialists who administer ozone therapy in several states throughout the U.S.

    There are many options when it comes to alternative cancer treatments. And naturally some therapies have different levels of success in different people. Ozone therapy is not a cancer "cure" all by itself. It's used in conjunction with other treatments.

    Perhaps you'll find ozone therapy to be a treatment that works for you or a loved one battling this dreadful disease!

    While you ponder this amazing treatment that conventional medicine wants to keep from you, consider this: Now there's a powerful new tool to help you avoid all the conventional medical tests and treatments that don't work, or that aren't necessary. This is super-important news. If you missed our last issue, scroll down and read it now.

    We already know that scores of drugs, tests, and treatments are overused in this country on a regular basis. That's no surprise.

    But here's what is surprising: There's a movement to stem this overuse — and it's coming from some of the nation's most prominent medical groups.

    They've published a list of tests and treatments that are often unnecessary. If any of them are being recommended to you, I strongly urge you to study this new advice first. Links are provided below, based on the medical problem being treated — plus some other valuable tips. . .

Continued below. . .

    The new effort is called the "Choosing Wisely" campaign, and it was launched last April by nine major medical societies, including the American College of Physicians, the American College of Radiology, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

    The main goal of the campaign is to curb unnecessary medical interventions. Supporters of Choosing Wisely say part of the overuse problem comes from patients who demand their doctors give them tests (even if they don't have symptoms), as well as patients who want to re-do a test to see if they get the same results. The other part of the overuse problem stems from doctors who regularly over-test. Some do it to avoid liability suits; others get a cut of the profits from the tests.

    When the initiative first came out, an article in The New York Times said "By some estimates, unnecessary treatment constitutes one-third of medical spending in the United States."

    The article quoted the physician-in-chief at North Shore-LIJ Health System, Dr. Lawrence Smith, as saying, "Overuse is one of the most serious crises in American medicine."

    Consumer Reports even pointed out (correctly, I might add) that all the unnecessary CT scans and X-rays taking place can expose you to potentially cancer-causing radiation.

Finally a step forward in health care safety and quality

    It's nice to see doctors admit they're not always right. But more powerful is the fact that it's a first step in changing the culture of medicine. They're admitting their tests can be wrong. And that they don't know everything. They're asking you to be more involved with your own healthcare.

    You can access summaries put together by Consumer Reports Health and the various participating medical societies. The summaries are meant to help you understand when certain tests are needed and when they aren't. They include video messages, "Easy Read," and Spanish versions:

• Allergy Tests (AAAAI)
• Bone-Density Tests (AAFP)
• Chest X-rays (ACR)
• EKGs and Exercise Stress Tests (AAFP)
• Imaging Tests for Back Pain (AAFP)
• Imaging Tests for Headaches (ACR)
• Imaging Tests for Ovarian Cysts (ACR)
• Immunoglobulin Replacement Therapy (AAAAI)
• Painkillers (ASN)
• Pap Tests (AAFP)
• Spirometry for Asthma (AAAAI)
• Treating Heartburn and GERD (AGA)
• Treating Sinusitis (AAAAI)
• Treating Sinusitis (AAFP)
• Choosing Wisely: When to say 'Whoa!' to doctors

    The complete list of recommendations is available at www.ChoosingWisely.org.

Just some of the anti-treatment recommendations…

    One of the recommendations to curb overuse is that dialysis patients with limited life expectancy and no sign of cancer should not get routine cancer screenings. These screenings don't add any time to the person's life, and sometimes they give false positives that lead to stress and over-treatment.

    The findings also confirm my belief that oncologists should scale back on tests for early-stage breast cancer and prostate cancer patients.

    Other recommendations include:

• Fewer EKGs when there's no sign of heart trouble
• Fewer MRIs at the slightest hint of back pain
• Fewer antibiotics prescriptions for sinusitis
• Fewer imaging scans for people with simple headaches
• Fewer CT scans for people who faint but have no other neurological problems

    I have some personal experience with most of the items on this list, and I agree these tests are usually a waste of time. I don't know how many times I was X-rayed when I was young for chronic back pain and chronic headaches without the doctors coming up with a diagnosis or with any answers for my problems (alternative medicine did that).

    Keep in mind — it's not like we haven't seen this before, where an effort is made to curb unnecessary health spending. But this time the message comes from powerful organizations of medical specialists -- the last place you might expect.

    Who knows, this could be the first step away from our culture of thinking doctors are gods instead of checking things out for ourselves. If the recommendations get the attention they deserve, it should jumpstart health conversations between doctors and patients, instead of almost everything being decided from on high by the doctor-authority figure.

Some question the movement's motives

    Needless to say, some critics have found fault with the Choosing Wisely initiative. Mainly, they argue that these new recommendations give insurance companies a pretext to red-light expensive testing. The fear is that they'll reference the Choosing Wisely campaign and decline legitimate requests for tests.

    It all comes down to whether the suggested guidelines will be used to help make better, more informed decisions -- or as an excuse by payers to limit a patient's options.

    I think the weight of the evidence is that we do too much testing.

    And people who worry about out-of-control medical spending in our country often point out that the vast amount of money we spend on testing saves very few lives. This newsletter has been extremely critical of PSA screening for prostate cancer and mammograms to screen for breast cancer. The stats clearly show the expensive failure of all the prostate and breast screening and the aftermath of biopsies and over-treatment.

    Don't forget what happened in 2009 when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended fewer mammograms. It made sense and was supported by the facts, but there was a backlash of fear over what some called "rationed" treatment. It was charged the Task Force was willing to let women die in order to save money. Utter nonsense. Mammograms are a medical disaster.

    But doctors test for many things besides cancer. Are heart and circulation tests, for example, a waste of money?

    In 2010, Consumer Reports did a study on 1,200 healthy men and women between age 40 and 60. Even though none of them had risk factors or symptoms for heart disease, roughly 44 percent had undergone heart disease screening tests. That's right — nearly half the people who showed NO SYMPTOMS of the disease had been tested.

    That's not necessarily a bad thing. People can have high blood pressure and clogged arteries without knowing it. But I suspect one of the main screens was a cholesterol test, and the treatment for those who tested high was statin drugs.

    Now this is me talking, not the Choosing Wisely people, but the evidence suggests that cholesterol is a red herring and the anti-cholesterol drugs not only don't prevent heart attacks, they actually damage the patient in other ways. The only group known to benefit from statin drugs is men who have ALREADY had a heart attack. For men who have never had a heart attack — and for ALL women -- there's no benefit from these cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Better care? Cheaper care? Both?

    Let's take a closer look at the campaign specifics. The Choosing Wisely campaign — which by the way, unites the recommendations of nearly 375,000 physicians across the country — lists 45 treatments and tests as commonly overused. The list results from a multi-year effort by the ABIM Foundation (Advancing Medical Professionalism to Improve Health Care).

    Each of the nine physician specialty societies picked five tests or procedures in their fields that they consider overused. That strikes me as odd — that each specialty had exactly five treatments to pinpoint as unnecessary. My guess is they have a lot more than that, but capping it at five makes them look less irresponsible as physicians than a list of 20 would.

    Some health experts say as much as 30 percent of our $2 trillion health care spending is unnecessary, duplicative, and potentially harmful. Another study suggests most elderly adults are screened regularly for breast, cervical, prostate, and colon cancer, despite the patient guidelines that advise against these screenings for anyone over age 75.

    What should come out of this? Besides improved patient care, the hope is that financial incentives for doctors to run extra tests will eventually become a thing of the past.

    By the way, since the initial announcement of this campaign last April, 17 new specialty societies have joined the initiative. Sometime this fall they're expected to announce their lists of tests and treatments to scale back on.

    If you're curious, the Choosing Wisely partners are:

• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunolgy
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American College of Cardiology
• American College of Physicians
• American College of Radiology
• American Gastroenterological Association
• American Society of Clinical Oncology
• American Society of Nephrology
• American Society of Nuclear Cardiology

    And the societies that have joined the campaign since the initial effort are:

• American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
• American Academy of Neurology
• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American College of Rheumatology
• American Geriatrics Society
• American Society for Clinical Pathology
• American Society of Echocardiography
• American Urological Association
• National Physicians Alliance
• Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
• Society of Hospital Medicine
• Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons
• Society for Vascular Medicine

Kindest regards,

Lee Euler, Publisher

Resources: from 1st article:

Kehr, R.W. 2012. "Ozone Cancer Treatments." Retrieved from
http://www.cancertutor.com/Cancer/Ozone.html

Pressman, S. 2008. "The Story of Ozone." Retrieved from
http://uralica.com/oz.htm#100

Shallenberger, F. 2011. "Ozone therapy is everywhere—America is next." Real Cures, vol 10:8. Retrieved from
http://www.realcuresletter.com/Newsletter-Archive/View-Archive/2123/Incredible-Study-Shows-
How-to-Prevent-and-Even-Treat-Prostate-Cancer-With-a-Plant-Nutrient.htm

Shallenberger, F. 2011. "The complete cancer prevention plan (Part 2)." Real Cures, vol 7:9. Retrieved from
http://www.realcuresletter.com/Newsletter-Archive/View-Archive/1924/The-Complete-Cancer-
Prevention-Plan-Part-2.htm

Shallenberger, F. 2012. DVD presentation from the 40^th Annual Cancer Control SocietyConvention.

References from 2nd article:

"Doctor Panels Recommend Fewer Tests for Patients." By Roni Caryn Rabin, Published: April 4, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/health/doctor-panels-urge-fewer-routine-tests.html?_r=2

"Doctors unveil "Choosing Wisely" campaign to cut unnecessary medical tests." April 4, 2012.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57409204-10391704/doctors-unveil-choosing-wisely
-campaign-to-cut-unnecessary-medical-tests/

Campaign: Choosing Wisely, Educating consumers about appropriate care. ConsumerReportsHealth site.
http://consumerhealthchoices.org/campaigns/choosing-wisely/

Choosing Wisely. ABIM Foundation Page.
http://www.abimfoundation.org/Initiatives/Choosing-Wisely.aspx

Choosing Wisely ® An initiative of the ABIM Foundation.
http://choosingwisely.org/?page_id=13

"Choosing Wisely: How to avoid unnecessary tests and treatments." By Consumer Reports, April 2012.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/04/choosing-wisely-how-to-avoid-unnecessary-tests
-and-treatments/index.htm?loginMethod=auto©rightYear=2012

"How Doctors and Patients Do Harm." By Tara Parker-Pope
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/how-doctors-and-patients-do-harm/

"Routine cancer screening common among seniors despite doubts." By Ryan Jaslow, December 13, 2011. CBS News Health POP,
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57342149-10391704/routine-cancer-screening-common-among-
seniors-despite-doubts/

"U.S. Physician Groups Identify Commonly Used Tests or Procedures They Say Are Often Not Necessary." April 4, 2012. Contact Nick Ferreyros., Choosingwisely.org.
http://choosingwisely.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/033012_Choosing-Wisely-National-Press-Rls-FINAL.pdf

"Will recommendations from Choosing Wisely ever be followed?" by William Sullivan, DO, JD on July 20th, 2012in Physician.
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/07/recommendations-choosing-wisely.html

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