UV-irradiated blood

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The ultraviolet blood irradiation (UVB, synonym photo biological therapy , UV-activated self-blood therapy , UVE) is an alternative medical treatment method and sub-form of self-blood therapy . This treatment method has no scientifically proven effectiveness.

Description of the procedure

Approx. 50 milliliters of blood are taken, the coagulation of which is prevented by sodium citrate . As a thin-walled quartz glass vessel a is used, no UV radiation is absorbed . The blood is then irradiated with UV-C light. In the similar hyperbaric oxygenization therapy , the blood is additionally foamed with oxygen. After the irradiation, the blood is reinjected into a patient's vein. The treatment usually includes 4–20 injections that are spread over several days or weeks. The price for the treatment is around 40  euros per individual session, so that a complete therapy can cost more than 500 euros. Depending on the health insurance tariff, these costs are only reimbursed to a limited extent.

Historical aspects

This variant of the alternative medical autologous blood treatment was developed by the Czech surgeon Hans Havlicek (1891-1949) and published in German in 1934. Havlicek tried to combine the observed antimicrobial effect of UV radiation and the autologous blood therapy, which was still generally accepted at the time. After the war, UV blood irradiation was initially used in the Soviet Union and the GDR , and now also in the territory of the old Federal Republic. In addition to the supposed effect against infections and circulatory disorders, the method is said to also help against chronic inflammation, metabolic disorders, cancer, AIDS and the ailments of old age. However, there is no scientific evidence for this, so that therapy is no longer of any significance in evidence-based medicine today.

Side effects

As with all physical interventions, there is a risk of infection from both the removal of the blood and the reinjection if not carried out properly. The use of sterile disposable containers has significantly reduced the risk since the procedure was first introduced. Life-threatening extreme case reactions such as blood poisoning due to material contamination therefore only rarely occur. Users also describe that there may be a short-term reddening of the skin in the neck and head area (English "flush").

rating

After the World War, the procedure was used by doctors in the GDR and small case series were published. However, there are no studies that meet today's scientific standards. The German Federal Joint Committee of Doctors and Health Insurance Funds examined the procedure and came to the conclusion in 2001 that “benefits, necessity and economic viability have not been proven”. Therefore the registers don't pay for it; Most private insurers also refuse to cover the costs.

If people with serious illnesses undergo UVB instead of effective medically prescribed therapy, there may be dangerous consequences from failure to treat the serious illness.

literature

  • K. Dillon: Healing Photons: The Science and Art of Blood Irradiation Therapy . Scientia Press, Washington DC 1998
  • H. Havlicek: The treatment of purulent processes with reinjection of ultraviolet irradiated blood and pus . In: Arch. Klin. Chir. , 180, 1934, pp. 102-104
  • H. Holesch: The UV-activated autologous blood therapy (UVE) , medical journal for naturopathic treatment , issue 2, 1998, 39th year, pp. 74-80.
  • G. Frick, U. Frick, R. Dehmlow: Practical Guide UVB and HOT . Hippokrates Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-7773-1463-3
  • Jakob Segal, Gunther Seng: Methods of UV irradiation of blood - Hot and UVB . Hippocrates, Stuttgart
  • X Wu: Ultraviolet blood irradiation: Is it time to remember “the cure that time forgot”? In: J Photochem Photobiol B , 2016 Apr; 157, pp. 89-96. PMC 4783265 (free full text)

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