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Alternative Names: Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid.
The chemical called EDTA has been used in America for decades. Despite what you might have heard about chelation therapy, when administered by a properly-trained physician and given in conjunction with lifestyle and dietary changes incorporating specialized nutritional supplements, the procedure is an option to be seriously considered by any person suffering from coronary artery disease, cerebral vascular disease, brain disorders resulting from circulatory disturbances, generalized atherosclerosis and related ailments which lead to senility and accelerated physical decline. Chelation reduces the likelihood of complications from Type II plaque, the kind involved in most cardiovascular events, and improves circulation.
Chelation benefits every blood vessel in the body, from the largest artery to the tiniest capillaries and arterioles, most of which are far too small for surgical treatment or are deep within the brain or other vital organs 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 or opened by other invasive treatments.
There is no legal prohibition against licensed physicians using chelation therapy for whatever conditions they deem it to be correct, even though the drug involved - EDTA - does not yet have atherosclerosis listed as an indication on the FDA-approved package insert. The FDA does not regulate the practice of medicine, but merely approves marketing, labeling and advertising claims for drugs and devices in interstate commerce.
Function
Chelation (key-lay-shun) is a chemical process by which a metal or mineral (such as lead, mercury, copper, arsenic, aluminum, calcium) is bonded to another substance and subsequently voided from the body. It is a process basic to life itself and goes on naturally in our body at all times. The chelation that we perform artificially is similar, but it uses a chemical (EDTA) instead of the natural chemicals of the body. Chelation is one mechanism by which such common substances such as aspirin, antibiotics, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements work in the body. For example, hemoglobin (the red pigment in blood which carries oxygen) is a chelate of iron.
Chelation is a treatment by which a man-made amino acid called ethylene diamine tetraacetic (EDTA) is administered to a patient intravenously, prescribed by and under the supervision of a fully-licensed physician (MD or DO). The fluid containing EDTA is infused through a small needle placed in the vein of a patient's arm. The EDTA in solution bonds with metals in the body and carries them away in the urine. Abnormally-situated nutritional metals, which speed free radical damage, and toxic metals such as lead, are most easily removed by EDTA.
Being "chelated" is quite a different experience from other medical treatments. There is no pain and, in most cases, very little discomfort. Patients are seated in reclining chairs and can read, nap, watch television, do needlework or chat with other patients while the fluid containing the EDTA flows into their veins. If necessary, patients can walk around. They can visit the restroom, eat and drink as they desire, or make telephone calls, being careful not to dislodge the needle attached to the intravenous infusion they carry with them.
Directions
Chelation therapy is a course of treatments which usually consists of anywhere from 20-50 separate infusions, depending on each patient's individual status. Thirty treatments is the average number required for definite benefit in patients with symptoms of arterial blockage but some patients eventually receive more than 100 infusions. Each treatment takes from 3-4 hours or longer and patients normally receive one or more treatments each week.
Expected Outcome; Side-Effects
Clinical benefits from chelation therapy vary with the total number of treatments received and with the severity of the condition being treated. More than 75% of patients treated have shown significant improvement from chelation therapy. More than 90% of patients receiving 35 or more treatments have benefited when they have also corrected dietary exercise and smoking habits, which are known to aggravate arterial disease. Symptoms improve, blood flow to diseased organs increases, need for medication decreases, and the quality of life improves.
Over a period of time, these injections halt the progress of the free radical disease, which is the underlying condition triggering the development of atherosclerosis and many other degenerative diseases of aging giving the body time to heal and time to restore blood flow through diseased blood vessels. After several months these injections bring profound improvement to many metabolic and physiologic processes in the body. The body's regulation of calcium and cholesterol is improved by normalizing the internal chemistry of cells.
EDTA is relatively non-toxic and risk-free, especially when compared with other treatments. The risk of serious side-effects, when properly administered, is less than 1 in every 10,000 patients treated. By comparison, the overall death rate as a direct result of bypass surgery is approximately 3 out of every 100 patients, varying with the hospital and the operating team. The incidence of other serious complications following surgery is much higher, including heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, permanent brain damage with personality changes and prolonged pain. Chelation is more than 300 times safer than bypass surgery.
Patients may occasionally suffer minor discomfort at the site where the needle enters the vein. Some temporarily experience mild nausea, dizziness, or headache as an immediate aftermath of treatment, but in the vast majority of cases these minor symptoms are easily relieved. When properly administered by a physician expert in this type of therapy, chelation is as safe as taking aspirin. Patients routinely drive themselves home after treatment with no difficulty.
If EDTA is given too rapidly or in too large a dose, it may cause harmful side-effects, just as an overdose of any other medicine can be dangerous. Reports of serious and even rare fatal complications have stemmed from excessive doses of EDTA, improperly administered. If you choose a physician with proper training and experience - one who is an expert in the use of EDTA - the risk of chelation therapy will be kept to a very low level. The American College of Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) provides training and examines physicians for competence in the specialized field of chelation therapy. A physician who has successfully completed the ACAM courses is knowledgeable in the safe and effective use of EDTA chelation therapy.
While it has often been stated that EDTA chelation therapy is damaging to the kidneys, research (in one study consisting of kidney function tests carried out on 383 consecutive chelation patients, before and after treatment with EDTA for chronic degenerative diseases) indicates the reverse is often true. On the average, there is significant improvement in kidney function following chelation. An occasional patient may be unduly sensitive, however, and physicians expert in chelation monitor kidney function very closely to avoid overloading the kidneys. Treatments must be given more slowly and less frequently if kidney function is abnormal. Patients with some types of severe kidney problems should not receive EDTA.
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Chelation Therapy can help with the following:
Chelation Therapy can help prevent the following:
KEY | | May do some good |  | | Likely to help |  | | Highly recommended |
GLOSSARY
Amino Acid (Amino Acids)
An organic acid containing nitrogen chemical building blocks that aid in the production of protein in the body. Eight of the twenty-two known amino acids are considered "essential," and must be obtained from dietary sources because the body can not synthesize them.
Arrhythmia (Arrhythmias)
A condition caused by variation in the regular rhythm of the heartbeat. Arrhythmias may cause serious conditions such as shock and congestive heart failure, or even death.
Arterial (Arteries, Artery)
Blood that leaves the heart. When it leaves the right ventricle, it is venous blood; and when it leaves the left ventricle, through the aorta, it is fresh and oxygenated. After it has passed out to the capillaries and started to return, it is venous blood.
Atherosclerosis
Common form of arteriosclerosis associated with the formation of atheromas which are deposits of yellow plaques containing cholesterol, lipids, and lipophages within the intima and inner media of arteries. This results in a narrowing of the arteries, which reduces the blood and oxygen flow to the heart and brain as well as to other parts of the body and can lead to a heart attack, stroke, or loss of function or gangrene of other tissues.
Calcium
The body's most abundant mineral. Its primary function is to help build and maintain bones and teeth. The body also needs calcium to carry nerve signals, keep the heart functioning, contract muscles, clot blood and maintain healthy skin. Calcium helps control blood acid-alkaline balance, plays a role in cell division, muscle growth and iron utilization, activates certain enzymes, and helps transport nutrients through cell membranes. Calcium also forms a cellular cement called ground substance that helps hold cells and tissues together.
Cardiac
Pertaining to the heart, also, pertaining to the stomach area adjacent to the esophagus.
Cardiovascular
Pertaining to the heart and blood vessels.
Chelation
Chelation therapy uses EDTA or other supplements that carry heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic, as well as other foreign substances, from the body. In the process of chelation, a larger protein molecule surrounds or encloses a mineral atom. The purpose of chelation is to increase the flow of blood to the vital organs and tissues of the body by reducing calcium deposits in the arteries and blood vessels.
Cholesterol
A waxy, fat-like substance manufactured in the liver and found in all tissues, it facilitates the transport and absorption of fatty acids. In foods, only animal products contain cholesterol. An excess of cholesterol in the bloodstream can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis.
Chronic (Chronicity)
Usually referring to chronic illness: Illness extending over a long period of time.
Claudication
Often Intermittent claudication: Condition caused by interruptions of blood supply to the muscles, characterized by limping and pain chiefly in the calf muscles: symptom characterized by pain during walking.
Copper
An essential mineral that is a component of several important enzymes in the body and is essential to good health. Copper is found in all body tissues. Copper deficiency leads to a variety of abnormalities, including anemia, skeletal defects, degeneration of the nervous system, reproductive failure, pronounced cardiovascular lesions, elevated blood cholesterol, impaired immunity and defects in the pigmentation and structure of hair. Copper is involved in iron incorporation into hemoglobin. It is also involved with vitamin C in the formation of collagen and the proper functioning in central nervous system. More than a dozen enzymes have been found to contain copper. The best studied are superoxide dismutase (SOD), cytochrome C oxidase, catalase, dopamine hydroxylase, uricase, tryptophan dioxygenase, lecithinase and other monoamine and diamine oxidases.
Diuresis
Excessive discharge of urine.
EDTA
Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid. An organic molecule used in chelation therapy.
FDA
The (American) Food and Drug Administration. It is the official government agency that is responsible for ensuring that what we put into our bodies - particularly food and drugs - is safe and effective.
Free Radical (Free Radicals)
A free radical is an atom or group of atoms that has at least one unpaired electron. Because another element can easily pick up this free electron and cause a chemical reaction, these free radicals can effect dramatic and destructive changes in the body. Free radicals are activated in heated and rancid oils and by radiation in the atmosphere, among other things.
Hemoglobin
The oxygen-carrying protein of the blood found in red blood cells.
Intravenous Infusion (IV)
A small needle placed in the vein to assist in fluid replacement or the giving of medication.
Iron
An essential mineral. Prevents anemia: as a constituent of hemoglobin, transports oxygen throughout the body. Virtually all of the oxygen used by cells in the life process are brought to the cells by the hemoglobin of red blood cells. Iron is a small but most vital, component of the hemoglobin in 20,000 billion red blood cells, of which 115 million are formed every minute. Heme iron (from meat) is absorbed 10 times more readily than the ferrous or ferric form.
Kidneys (Kidney, Renal)
Bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are located near the middle of the back, just below the rib cage. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines, each day handling about 50 gallons of blood to sift out about half a gallon of waste products and extra water. The waste and extra water become urine, which flows to the bladder through tubes called ureters. The actual filtering occurs in tiny units inside the kidneys called nephrons. Every kidney has about a million nephrons. In a nephron, a glomerulus -- which is a tiny blood vessel, or capillary -- intertwines with a tiny urine-collecting tube called a tubule. A complicated chemical exchange takes place, as waste materials and water leave your blood and enter your urinary system. The kidneys recycle chemicals such as sodium, phosphorus, and potassium and thus regulate their levels. Renal: Pertaining to the kidneys.
Magnesium
An essential mineral. The chief function of magnesium is to activate certain enzymes, especially those related to carbohydrate metabolism. Another role is to maintain the electrical potential across nerve and muscle membranes. It is essential for proper heartbeat and nerve transmission. Magnesium controls many cellular functions. It is involved in protein formation, DNA production and function and in the storage and release of energy in ATP. Magnesium is closely related to calcium and phosphorus in body function. The average adult body contains approximately one ounce of magnesium. It is the fifth mineral in abundance within the body--behind calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. Although about 70 percent of the body's magnesium is contained in the teeth and bones, its most important functions are carried out by the remainder which is present in the cells of the soft tissues and in the fluid surrounding those cells.
Metabolism (Metabolic, Metabolize, Metabolizes, Metabolizing)
The chemical processes of living cells in which energy is produced in order to replace and repair tissues and maintain a healthy body. Responsible for the production of energy, biosynthesis of important substances, and degradation of various compounds. Also defined as the sum total of changes in an organism in order to achieve a balance (homeostasis): Catabolic burns up, anabolic stores and builds up; the sum of their work is metabolism.
Mineral (Minerals)
Plays a vital role in regulating many body functions. They act as catalysts in nerve response, muscle contraction and the metabolism of nutrients in foods. They regulate electrolyte balance and hormonal production, and they strengthen skeletal structures.
Nausea
Symptoms resulting from an inclination to vomit.
Porphyria (Porphyrias)
Any of several usually hereditary abnormalities of porphyrin metabolism characterized by excretion of excess porphyrins in the urine. Porphyrias are relatively rare disorders and can be classified based on the principal site of expression of enzymatic defect in heme synthesis.
Trace Element (Trace Elements, Trace Mineral, Trace Minerals)
A mineral or element that is essential, in small amounts, for good health. Nutritionists prefer to call minerals either minerals or trace minerals depending on the amount needed by the body, while analytical chemists prefer to call minerals 'trace elements'.
Vascular
Relating to the blood vessels of the body. The blood vessels of the body, as a group, are referred to as the vascular system. They are composed of arteries, veins and capillaries - arteries that pass oxygen-rich blood to the tissues of the body; veins which return oxygen-depleted blood from the tissues to the lungs for oxygen; and the capillaries that are the tiniest vessels and are between the arteries and veins.
Zinc
An essential trace mineral. The functions of zinc are enzymatic. There are over 70 metalloenzymes known to require zinc for their functions. The main biochemicals in which zinc has been found to be necessary include: enzymes and enzymatic function, protein synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. Zinc is a constituent of insulin and male reproductive fluid. Zinc is necessary for the proper metabolism of alcohol, to get rid of the lactic acid that builds up in working muscles and to transfer it to the lungs. Zinc is involved in the health of the immune system, assists vitamin A utilization and is involved in the formation of bone and teeth.
Last updated: Apr 13, 2008
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