The presentation, delivered by Dr. Preeti Nanda Sibal at the Ozone Forum of India, begins with an introduction to her extensive medical, business, and coaching credentials. She then shares her personal experience of being diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, using it as a springboard to discuss the condition’s prevalence, symptoms, and the rising burden of autoimmunity post‑COVID. Dr. Sibal contrasts conventional allopathic management (levothyroxine replacement) with a functional‑medicine view that treats Hashimoto's as a systemic, gut‑driven disease. She outlines a six‑factor root‑cause framework—genetics, leaky gut/dysbiosis, environmental toxins, chronic infections, nutrient deficiencies (selenium, zinc, iodine, vitamin D), and adrenal stress—emphasizing the need to stabilize adrenals before thyroid support. The talk delves into the embryologic gut‑thyroid connection, shared iodine transport, and details microbial triggers (Bacteroides fragilis, Proteobacteria, Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, H. pylori, Toxoplasma gondii, EBV, CMV, Yersinia). She introduces ozone therapy as a core intervention, explaining its molecular actions: activation of the NRF2 antioxidant pathway, reduction of NF‑κB‑driven inflammation, modulation of cytokine profiles, and enhancement of immune regulation (T‑reg cells). An integrated protocol is described—systemic ozone drips, Breethel and Botho sessions, far‑infrared sauna, and a gut‑healing regimen with diet, supplements, and lifestyle changes—typically delivered over 2‑3 months. Case studies illustrate dramatic improvements: a postpartum woman weaned off levothyroxine after six months, a male patient’s anti‑TPO antibodies dropping from 354 IU/mL to 62 IU/mL, and overall trends from 112 treated patients (70 % high aluminum/mercury, 50 % H. pylori IgA positivity, notable iodine deficiency). Dr. Sibal concludes by announcing training courses, a new Gurgaon clinic, and an invitation to join the IFM community, positioning ozone therapy as a viable, evidence‑backed option for autoimmune thyroid disease.
Chapters
Dr. Preeti Nanda Siddal is among India's highly successful entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and a widely celebrated visionary. Quite big achievement. Dr. Preeti boasts with wealth of knowledge. She is an alumni of a renowned medical college in Amritsar and the prestigious IIM Lucknow. She also holds a fellowship in functional medicine from the George Washington University, USA. She is a certified executive coach from CEC Florida. She got trained by a Harvard graduate and works closely with the president of IAFM. Can I have a huge round of applause for Dr. Brittany?
Over to you. And Ranveer Singh of Ozone Forum of India. Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Millie. Thank you, Dr. Jignasa, and thank you, the whole OFI team, for organizing this, for creating this awareness and teaching and motivating and inspiring all of us to do beyond our boundaries. So it's not only about ozone, but it's also about every other integral thing which we are doing today in our practice to help our patients. Before I talk on my topic, I want to tell you, I called Millie 2-3 days back and I asked her, I said, if you have any work, let me know. She said, no, just you come. You know, the simple statement of her actually told me that she has a great team behind her because this is no easy feat to organize such a conference so meticulously and nicely. So I think a big round of applause for the whole team because of this, you know, Dr. Millie can really do what she does and Thank you, Lily, for doing what you're doing. Great. So my topic is— hello everybody— on Hashimoto's and ozone therapy. And why am I speaking on this topic? Because unfortunately, about 1.5 years back, I was introduced to this condition. I had Hashimoto's, and I can't tell you, it was such a shock for me that for 4-5 days I almost went in a shell. Asking myself, what did I do to suffer from this condition, right? Because that, that's how you feel. I think that's how at least a patient feels, because I was literally not in my space at all for this 4 days. And of course, I have a gift for all of you who actually listen to me. In the end, I will give you this. You've already said— now, interestingly, you know, when I was going through the data I realized that we talk about cardiovascular diseases all the time, we talk about cancer all the time, but imagine how many people are suffering from autoimmunity, especially post-COVID. So I think we need to talk about autoimmunity more and more and more because this is which is the biggest problem. Now when we look at Hashimoto's thyroiditis, let's look at what or this butterfly gland is a thyroid. It is like a thermostat of our body, and when our security system gets hacked, that is when our thermostat is not able to work well. And that condition is what we call Hashimoto's thyroiditis, right? So it's an autoimmune condition, and generally the patient comes with fatigue, weight gain, hair thinning, brain fog, mood swings, and so much more. And is there a difference in the way conventional and functional medicine looks at it? Anybody who would want to share something on this? Is there a difference? There is. I don't think so. What's the difference? Right. So in allopathy, if a patient comes to us, we say, okay, liver thorexin is your treatment, take it and keep feeling as you are feeling now, because most of these patients would not feel better after they are put on medicines, right? But in functional medicine, we actually know that it is not a thyroid problem. Then what problem is it if it's not a thyroid problem? It's a systemic problem. Your whole body is involved in it. Your body was trying to fight it on its own. And when it was not able to, one fine day it showed up as hypothyroidism, right? So the whole thing changes. And this arrowhead chart is something I think all of us should have in our offices because Hashimoto's is the number one autoimmune disease now. Its incidence has surpassed incidence of rheumatoid arthritis presently. Yeah, and if you look at this diagram, you will see that it is connected with almost every system in your body. Now one very important pearl which I practice in my practice very, very diligently, and anybody who's treating Hashimoto's should know that is, before you start working on Hashimoto's or thyroid, make sure that the adrenals are fixed. At least take first 3 weeks to 6 weeks to fix the adrenals before you put your patient on any thyroid medication. You will see the whole trajectory of the progress of the patient will change. And of course, when we look at the root causes of Hashimoto's, genetics is very important. Dr. Darryl, he always keeps telling hypothyroidism is genetic. Thanks, Dr. Darryl, for speaking it again and again in your presentation. And yes, Hashimoto's does have genetic predisposition, but it is not necessary that if your parents had it, you will have it too. You should just be a little more careful about it. Leaky gut, gut dysbiosis, environmental toxins and heavy metals, chronic infections, nutritional deficiencies, especially selenium, zinc, iodine, and vitamin D, and chronic stress and adrenal dysfunction. These are the 6 things which I rule out when I look at a case of Hashimoto's. Yeah, so, so basically if you see the 2 antibodies which are very important and we all get them tested, anti-thyroid peroxidase and anti-thyroglobulin. Now if the anti-thyroglobulin comes high, means there's early stage, and anti-TPO tells you that it's a later adaptive immune response. Now I'm a gut person. I think a lot of you know that I focus a lot on the gut, so I'm going to go a little more detail on the gut thing. There are few microbes which, when in imbalance, can be the cause of Hashimoto's. To list some of them: Bacteroides fragilis. If this microbe is in more quantity, it can be the cause of Hashimoto's or Graves'. Similarly, Proteobacteria and Klebsiella and Pseudomonas— these are the bacteria which I see very, very commonly in high numbers in Hashimoto's, especially when I do GI map. This is what I see. And then my USP with all autoimmunity, and I think what makes me feel sad and happy both, is H. pylori infection. We all know it is very, very commonly found, especially in the Indian population. But what, at least as an allopathic doctor, I had forgotten— I don't know about some of you sitting here— that it is the leading cause of autoimmune conditions also. Imagine, 1962, I was not even born then. That time Taylor et al. said that autoimmune thyroid and gut infections are connected, and he spoke about H. pylori. And just till few years back, I was never told that I need to look into gut infections if I have autoimmune patient sitting in front of me. So I think it's sad, but consensus like this help us get better. Now, why is gut and thyroid connected? Anyone of you would want to tell that? Of course, the answer is on the screen, but still. Yeah, because they both have an origin in the endodermal layer. Thyroid gland is the first gland to develop in the fetus in third week of gestation, and the stomach starts to develop around week 4. And stomach and thyroid, though they have a very different function, they share the presence of the sodium and iodine acceptors in portal that gives them the ability to concentrate iodine. So gut and thyroid both concentrate iodine, and we know iodine is very, very important for thyroid function. And therefore, gut really affects thyroid in a big way. Now, when we look at Hashimoto's, of course there are many mechanisms which have been found to say that gut infections can lead to autoimmunity. Anybody who is really into science, you can take a picture of this slide also. It's nice and it really takes you deep into why all this is happening. Taken the picture? Yes. Thank you. Toxoplasma gondii. Again, if IgM of Toxoplasma gondii is higher in patients with autoimmune thyroid, it's been found. 2012, Shapiro wrote an article on this. And a lot of parasitic infections, they are the other area where we should be very, very careful. If you get a patient of Hashimoto's, make sure that you take the history from the birthplace till now, where all they have traveled, and try to think if there is any exposure of parasites which the body was not able to handle, which could be the cause of this. Of course, herpes virus can be the cause, but Epstein-Barr virus has been found in studies to be really leading to Hashimoto thyroiditis. Yersinia enterocolitica is another one microbiome. Please look at the report and see if this is high. Test the antibodies because important is lot of patients for many, many months or even years, they do not come to you with any symptoms despite the fact that they have high antibodies. Antibodies. If that time you can check their antibodies and work on their gut and the other root causes, that patient would never suffer from the symptoms of hypothyroidism. And of course, you will be able to treat quickly. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacter balance is very important. We know for every healthy person we need to have it, and people who have SIBO or have imbalance of lactobacillus and bifidobacter will have this And what is one solution for all these problems? Ozone therapy with gut healing protocol. Of course, ozone works on the gut, but your diet, your stress management, all also plays an important role. So even, you know, to understand what is happening in our body and how ozone helps us, I would want to invite 12 people on the stage with me. So who all will want to come? Please come here. 12, please. I want 12 people on the stage because I think we've had a lot of theory. Let's do something so that when we go back, we are not able to forget this. 12 people, please. I thought we all will be getting plain ozone. We are full of oxygen, but it looks like no, we are not, right? Okay, yeah, we've opened this great, right? So now I'm going to give you— correctly, I'm going to give you this. Just hold it like this, right? This is yours. Yeah, yeah, you can read it and you can show it to everybody also to read it. I need few more. Two more people on the stage. Now people are not scared, right? Okay, so please show to everybody what is written there on your papers. Everybody, you read it? Dr. Jignasa, I was waiting for you on the stage, but I will call you. Please sit here. Perfect. So everybody, everybody with— So everybody who has a slip of pro-inflammatory cytokines, please come on the right. And everybody who has on the slip Oxidative stress, please come on the right. Right, right, right. All these two on the right, please. Oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory on the right. Yes. Regulatory T cells on the left. Antioxidant defense on the left. Okay, so right and left, please divide like this. You're right, go on the right. Okay, you are on the left. Yes, sorry, left is lesser. So now there's this row, and right and left, you are in a tug of war, please. That is what I asked you. Yeah, I'm not supposed to give you answers beforehand, right? So let's see who wins. You can now keep your papers wherever you want to. Yes, and a real tug of war is what I want. Perfect. So, wait, wait, wait. So right side is autoimmune thyroid side, and this is what happens when your body is trying to heal you. Which is that side, there are so many pro-inflammatory cytokines and so much of oxidative stress that this is what your body feels. Yeah? When we give you ozone, what happens? What will happen when we give you ozone? What will happen? NRF pathway gets activated. Oxidative stress decreases. So oxidative stress, please move on that side. NFKB reduces. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, please move to that side. Immune cell activity improves. And decreases, pro-inflammatory cytokines decrease, and when they decrease, your body's own defense mechanism, that is T-reg cells and antioxidant mechanism, gets activated and health is created. So a big hand for all those who participated. Thank you very much, and I'm sure you will not forget what ozone does now. So it improves oxygen utilization, it modulates the immune system, it reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, and it supports detoxification pathways. So all the ozone benefits we are knowing from the morning, but yes, what is it that I do in autoimmune thyroid, or what is it that I did for myself? 10 sessions of Breckel and Botho in a month. 7 minor auto in a month, 10 far infrared sauna sessions in a month, and 2 ozone drips in a month. 2 months continuously I do for every patient. I tell them in advance, third month it depends on how is the progress of the patient. So this was the abstract which is published where they are saying that Hashimoto's chronic thyroiditis can be treated with systemic ozone therapy. So who all I have given this protocol? Now this is a very, very beautiful story, very, very close to my heart. A 32-year-old female struggling with fatigue, brain fog, and weight gain came to me, and with tears she said, I became pregnant. The moment I delivered, post that, within 3 months I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. Motors. We all know pregnancy is a stressful event, and we all now are talking about it, that post-pregnancy lot of autoimmune conditions are happening— RA, thyroid, right? So doctor had put her on levothyroxine, some lifestyle changes, some supplements she was taking. She came to me, I did my 6R gut protocol with her, and I did this IV ozone protocol with her, the full protocol which I have written. What did I see? 6 months later, she had increased energy, weight stabilization, reduced antibodies, and interestingly, she was on 75 mcg levothyroxine when she came to me, and she was on zero thyroid meds after 6 months. When she had come, she had come with another reason that now my family is telling me to conceive again, and I don't want to do it. I'm I'm scared of my disease. Unless this is reversed, I won't do it. And 3 months later she called me and said, Doc, I've conceived, I will come to you post-op. And I had her— I had a report somewhere where her TSH was 0.0432 when she came to me. And that time she was on 25 mcg levothyroxine, which I told her, you stop it now because you need to. So this is no less than miracle, but it can be done with help of ozone and of course gut protocol, which has supplements, diet, and lifestyle changes. Another 38-year-old male came with lot of SIBO and leaky gut issues who had Hashimoto's. Same protocol, and 3 months her GPO came down from 354 to 62. So when in allopathy we go, at least I remember I used to tell people, don't ignore it, you can't do anything about it. But now, don't ignore it, work on it. Even if you don't have any symptoms, still work on it because symptoms might come sometime. So if you work before that, great. 30 seconds more. So this is my data, whatever patients I have. I saw that in last 2 years I have done 112 patients of Hashimoto's. right? In which what I found that 70% of patients had high aluminum and mercury. So my mercury was extremely high when I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's. So aluminum and mercury were high in 70%. 50% of patients had H. pylori IgA high. CMV was high in 12 IgM and in 27 IgG was high. ADV IgM was high in 5 and IgG was high in 13. Deficiencies were there, and about in 10% of patients iodine— at least when I do an oligoscan, iodine was so, so, so low that I can't tell you, which exactly was telling me that the body is not able to use the iodine properly. My— this time for gift, lot of people have always been telling me that when are you planning to launch your course? So 2025, I became a grandmom in November 2024, and I had to give something. Thank you. And I think I thought no better gift than sharing my knowledge in the way that who learns does it better than I do and heals more patients than I do. So two courses we've launched. One is of course for Dr. Sebiya on ECP and one on BHR team. Feel free and do it. We have a center in Gurgaon. Please visit. Think of it as your center and let's create health. Become members of IFM and let's do more of such things together. Happy healing, happy India. Thank you.
