Chelation therapy
Chelation therapy is a safe, effective, and relatively inexpensive treatment to restore blood flow in victims of atherosclerosis (Hardening of the Arteries) without surgery. Chelation (pronounced KEY-LAY-SHUN) is the chemical process by which a metal or mineral (such as lead, mercury, copper, iron, arsenic, aluminum, calcium, etc.) is bonded to another substance. It is a natural process, basic to life itself. Chelation is one mechanism by which such common substances as aspirin, antibiotics, vitamins, minerals and trace elements work in the body. Hemoglobin, the red pigment in blood, which carries oxygen, is a chelate of iron.
Although chelation therapy for prevention and treatment of degenerative circulatory diseases is currently practiced by hundreds of medical doctors in the USA and Europe, it remains controversial in as much as it is misunderstood, its use is being grossly under investigated by mainstream medicine except in treating a narrow range of conditions such as lead and other heavy metal toxicity or acute hypercalcaemia (increased calcium levels in the blood). Ironically, it was the medical use of chelation therapy in removing toxic metals that first led to the discovery of its hugely beneficial 'side-effects' of dramatically enhanced circulatory function.
Those doctors who have examined chelation therapy in action and who have seen its outstanding results in preventing and reversing so many degenerative diseases, usually change rapidly from critics to supporters of this essentially safe system. Every single study of the use of chelation therapy for atherosclerosis which has ever been published, without exception, has described an improvement in blood flow and symptoms and Chelation therapy promotes health by correcting the major underlying cause of arterial blockage. Damaging oxygen free radicals are increased by the presence of metallic elements and act as a chronic irritant to blood vessel walls and cell membranes. EDTA (ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid) removes those metallic irritants, allowing leaky and damaged cell walls to heal. Plaques smooth over and shrink, allowing more blood to pass. Arterial walls become softer and more pliable, allowing easier expansion. Scientific studies have proven that blood flow increases after chelation therapy. EDTA chelation therapy is an effective treatment for atherosclerosis.
List of Conditions that can be treated
Intravenous chelation therapy with ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) is proven to reverse and slow the progression of atherosclerosis and age-related diseases. Symptoms affecting many different parts of the body often improve. Atherosclerotic blockage to blood flow in the coronary arteries of the heart, to the brain, to the legs, and elsewhere are relieved. Blood flow increases. Heart attacks, strokes, leg pain and gangrene are prevented using this therapy. Bypass surgery and balloon angioplasty can often be prevented. Published studies now indicate that even cancer deaths can be reduced by EDTA chelation therapy.
Atherosclerosis plays a big part in the cause of arthritis throughout the body due to poor blood supply to the joints. The effect of this process on the heart is Angina. Poor blood supply to the stomach and small intestines results in poor digestion. Poor blood supply to the colon causes colon disease. Poor blood supply to the brain and spinal cord can cause stroke.
Chelation therapy is therefore a safe and effective alternative to bypass surgery for atherosclerosis. Your case of severe hardening of the arteries need not lead to coronary bypass surgery, heart attack, amputation, stroke, or senility. There is new hope of recovery for victims of these and numerous related diseases. EDTA chelation therapy, administered by a properly trained physician and given in conjunction with lifestyle and dietary changes and specialized nutritional supplements, is an option to be seriously considered by persons suffering from:
- Coronary artery disease
- Cerebral vascular disease
- Brain disorders resulting from circulatory disturbances
- Generalized atherosclerosis and related ailments that lead to senility, gangrene, and accelerated physical decline.
Chelation's earliest application with humans was during World War II when the British used another chelating agent, British Anti-Lewesite (BAL), as a poison gas antidote. BAL is still used today in medicine.
EDTA was first introduced into medicine in the United States in 1948 as a treatment for industrial workers suffering from lead poisoning in a battery factory. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. Navy advocated chelation therapy for sailors who had absorbed lead while painting government ships and dock facilities. In the years since, chelation therapy has remained the undisputed treatment-of-choice for lead poisoning, even in children with toxic accumulations of lead in their bodies as a result of eating leaded paint from toys, cribs or walls.
In the early 1950’s it was speculated that EDTA chelation therapy might help the accumulations of calcium associated with hardening of the arteries. Experiments were performed and victims of atherosclerosis experienced health improvements following chelation—diminished angina, better memory, sight, hearing and increased vigor. A number of physicians then began to routinely treat individuals suffering from occlusive vascular conditions with chelation therapy. Consistent improvements were reported for most patients.
Published articles describing successful treatment of atherosclerosis with EDTA chelation therapy first appeared in medical journals in 1955. Dozens of favorable articles have been published since then. No unsuccessful results have ever been reported (with the exception of recent very flawed data presented by bypass surgeons in an attempt to discredit this competing therapy). There have also been a number of editorial comments of a critical nature made by physicians with vested interests in vascular surgery and related procedures.
From 1964 on, despite continued documentation of its benefits and the development of safer treatment methods, the use of chelation for the treatment of arterial disease has been the subject of controversy.
Chelation therapy is a medical treatment that improves metabolic and circulatory function by removing toxic metals (such as lead and cadmium) and abnormally located nutritional metallic ions (such as iron) from the body. This is accomplished by administering an amino acid, ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA), by an intravenous infusion using a small 25-gauge needle.
- EDTA lowers blood calcium and thus stimulates the production of parathormone from the parathyroid glands.
- EDTA stimulates the enlargement of small vessels, so that they serve the purpose of collateral circulation around a blockage, rendering the blockage irrelevant.
- EDTA controls free radical damage due to lipid peroxidation by serving as a powerful antioxidant.
- EDTA removes lead, cadmium, aluminum and other metals restoring enzyme systems to their proper functions.
- EDTA enhances the integrity of cellular and mitochondrial membranes.
- EDTA helps reestablish a prostaglandin hormone balance. Prostaglandins. among other things, are responsible for the balancing act between contraction and relaxation of arterial walls and between clotting and the free flow of blood. Prostaglandins are produced from fatty acids, therefore lipid peroxidation upsets the balance of these vital hormones. EDTA chelates out the catalyzing metallic co-enzymes and thus inhibits lipid peroxidation, also serving the same function as an antioxidant.
- EDTA reduces the tendency of platelets to cause coagulation too readily. This tends to prevent inappropriate thrombosis, which blocks coronary arteries during a heart attack.
- EDTA increases tissue flexibility by uncoupling age-related cross linkages that are responsible for loss of skin tone and for wrinkling.
Chelation therapy is a course of treatment that usually consists of anywhere from 20 to 50 separate infusions, depending on each patient’s individual health status. Thirty treatments is the average number required for optimum benefit in patients with symptoms of arterial blockage.. Some patients eventually receive more than 100 chelation therapy infusions over several years. Each chelation treatment takes from three to four hours and patients normally receive one to five treatments each week. Over a period of time, these injections halt the progress of the free radical disease. Free radicals underlie the development of atherosclerosis and many other degenerative diseases of aging. Reduction of damaging free radicals allows diseased arteries to heal, restoring blood flow. With time chelation therapy brings profound improvement to many essential metabolic and physiologic functions in the body. The body’s regulation of calcium and cholesterol is restored by normalizing the internal chemistry of cells.
Clinical benefits from chelation therapy vary with the total number of treatments received and with severity of the condition being treated. More than 75 percent of chelation patients have improved dramatically. More than 90 percent of patients receiving 35 or more chelation treatments have benefited—even more so when they have also corrected dietary, exercise and smoking habits, which are known to aggravate occlusive arterial disease. Symptoms improve, blood flow to diseased organs increases, need for medication decreases and, most importantly, the quality of life becomes much more productive and enjoyable.
Chelation therapy benefits the flow of blood through every vessel in the body, from the largest to the tiniest capillaries and arterioles, most of which are far too small for surgical treatment or are deep within the brain where they cannot be safely reached by surgery. In many patients, the smallest blood vessels are the most severely diseased. The benefits of chelation occur from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet, not just in short segments of a few large arteries which can be bypassed by surgical treatment.
