Hydrogen peroxide therapy is not new. It has been around since 1929 when doctors had no antibiotics available. It was first reported by Dr. T. H. Oliver in Lancet, The British Medical Journal! (Oliver TH, Cantab BC and Murphy DV. Influenza / Pneumonia: The Intravenous Injection of Hydrogen Peroxide, Lancet 1, 1920:432-433.) Antibiotics were discovered twenty four (24) years later.
Charles Farr, MD is generally considered to be the pioneer and father of oxidative medicine in the United States. He took patients dying from influenza pneumonia and gave them hydrogen peroxide therapy. Almost half of those patients lived. Influenza killed 30-40 million people worldwide and actually stopped World War 1 because the world was sick.
Remember that this is a treatment that predates antibiotics! We are also currently losing our effectiveness of antibiotics. This occurred as early as two years after penicillin was discovered and began being used. So, this treatment is certainly worth your consideration as it worked then and works now.
Hydrogen peroxide is a natural substance manufactured in all of our bodies. It is a product of what is called intermediary metabolism in the body and it participates in a significant number of biochemical reactions in the body. However, when we infuse hydrogen peroxide into your vein, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers this natural substance to be a “drug”. As such, the FDA considers its use in an intravenous form to be experimental. This does not mean that the procedure is illegal or dangerous or harmful-just unproven to the FDA. Aspirin, our old friend, is also an unproven drug to the FDA but it has been around for over 100 years now. As the procedure is not approved by the FDA your insurance company will not pay for the treatment.
In hydrogen peroxide therapy we are interested in the redox (oxidative-reduction) reactions involved. This is the chemical reaction whereby electrons are removed (called oxidation) from chemicals in the body being oxidized and transferred to other atoms which are being reduced (reduction). The body causes a rapid reduction of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen-the two components which actually compose hydrogen peroxide- by an enzyme called catalase. This enzyme is found in most body tissues.
Catalase is the enzyme which is of the oxidative-reductase class which catalyzes (breaks down) the reaction of hydrogen peroxide plus water to oxygen plus two water molecules. Catalase is found in nearly all cells and organs and acts as a catalyst in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. When hydrogen peroxide comes into contact with catalase, the catalase enzyme breaks down the hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water. This increased presence of oxygen creates the oxidative reactions which chemically increase the positive charges on an atom or the loss of negative charges. Most biological oxidations are accomplished by the removal of a pair of hydrogen atoms (dehydrogenation) from a molecule. Such oxidations must be accompanied by reduction of an acceptor molecule (Dorland’s Medical Dictionary-27th edition).
The aim of this increase in oxidative reactions in the body is to help regulate tissue repair, cellular respiration, immune functions, the energy system, most hormone systems and the production of cytokines. Cytokines are no-antibody proteins released by one cell population on contact with specific antigens which then act as intercellular mediators to generate the increase in immune response. This is the body’ mechanism of self-help and improved immunity or resistance to disease.
The oxidation created in the body by hydrogen peroxide therapy changes the chemistry of the body from reduction reactions and acid pH to oxidative reactions and basic pH. This creates theoretically more oxygen than that of a very expensive hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
Many medical studies demonstrate that hydrogen peroxide therapy stimulates the immune system, kills a dozen different pathogenic bacteria and many viruses as well as many yeast and fungi. It helps to improve circulation and helped to clear arteries like chelation does in our experience. Debris deep in the lungs has the ability to be expelled instead of chronically being stored as the chemistry of the body changes. Many chronic pains are relieved for as yet unknown reasons.
Emphysema, asthma and chronic lung disease respond very well to hydrogen peroxide therapy. You will end up coughing up the debris at the base of your lungs. You will end up coughing more instead of less for awhile. However, that is what you want to do to clean out your lungs of all the debris from our dirty environment. It may take several treatments for this to occur or it may occur on the first treatment.
Many patients find that their blood pressure is actually brought down to a better level with hydrogen peroxide. The reason is yet unknown. However, we have a lot of unknowns in medicine despite our current trend toward evidence based medicine.
The normal course of therapy for lung problems is weekly for at least ten treatments over a period of ten weeks. Remember, that lung disease is a chronic problem. Do not expect any treatment to work instantly. Chronic problems require chronic treatment.
Hydrogen peroxide can help change the pH of the system so that the body can better fight cancer cells also. This is considered by many to be controversial. However, cancer cells don’t like the extra oxygen created with hydrogen peroxide therapy. They also don’t like the change of the acid base chemistry since the pH of the body returns to normal. Cancer cells seem to survive better in an acid media.
With hydrogen peroxide therapy, the acid media of cancer is gradually changed toward normal basic pH of the body (7.35-7.45). The oxidation created in the body by hydrogen peroxide changes the chemistry of the body from reduction reactions and an acid pH to oxidative reactions and a more basic pH-more nearly normal.
Other types of problems respond to hydrogen peroxide therapy as well. Each problem has to be handled individually. Sometimes, a combination of hydrogen peroxide therapy and chelation usually works best. Each case must be individually evaluated. Remember all these problems are chronic. Short therapy does not work!
Acute problems such as colds or flu may respond in as little as one to two treatments.
Nutritional supplements are a necessary fact of life today. They are necessary for your health and recovery from disease. What you need will be discussed with you on an individual basis. Supplements are not optional!
What are the risks involved with hydrogen peroxide therapy? The most common side effect with any IV (intravenous) therapy is vein inflammation and some pain with the infusion at the site of the needle or the vein. You may also experience vasculitis and / or thrombophlebitis. Sometimes this goes away in twenty minutes and other times the needle location has to be changed. An occasional patient may experience chest discomfort including a shortness of breath feeling. We slow the infusion rate down when this occurs and just wait and observe. Usually nothing else needs to be done.
Occasionally patients may experience a feeling of chills as hydrogen peroxide is an exothermic reaction (gives off heat) which decreases the body temperature on a short-term basis. Part of this reaction is included in what is known as a Herxheimer reaction. It is perfectly normal.
Whatever your problem if you choose to consider hydrogen peroxide therapy, you should be seen by a doctor or a first for an examination and evaluation.
Sometimes, depending on the condition, we can start you on hydrogen peroxide immediately. If the problem is chronic or serious we will need some lab work drawn prior to initiation of any treatment.
Joan Resk, DO, JD graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in Chicago, Illinois in 1970 and completed her Internship at Portland Osteopathic Hospital – now known as Eastmoreland General Hospital. Dr. Resk also graduated and earned her JD from Western State University College of Law in 1983. She has served as vice president of the American Osteopathic College of Pain Management and Sclerotherapy, and has been a frequent speaker at their meetings.
Dr. Resk’s other accomplishments include: founding President of The Orange County Osteopathic Association, Orange County California Editorial Consultant for the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association; Speaker at the American Academy for the Advancement of Medicine; Speaker at International Osteopathic Convention in Erie. PA
Joan Resk, D.O., J.D.
