The news regarding chelation therapy generated by the detractors and critics causes confusion for many people who may be interested in chelation therapy for their family. Chelation therapy, using a chelating agent that removes toxic metals (EDTA), for people with heart disease has been utilized by physicians since the 50s for many circulatory problems. Very safe, very effective when using the approved protocols of IV therapy. Thousands of people have improved health and many with very marked improvements. Increasing circulation can prevent amputations as well as improve heart disease and the problems for diabetics.
Other chelating agents have been used to remove mercury other metals in children with autism with very good results. The critics are busy trying to stop a study of DMSA to chelate mercury in autistic kids. My information cites that fact that the National Institute of Health developed and funded the use of DMSA to treat lead toxicity in children. But a study using DMSA to chelate mercury, now underway in Philadelphia, is threatened with discontinuation. A real shame. Edit- perhaps a real shame but for the real scoop on how to help kids see Dr. Rashid Buttar’s blog at drbuttar.com/blog/2008/08 to get his view of DMSA.
There is a simple fact at work here. EDTA is not patentable, the patent ran out years ago. There is not one single drug company that would not be hurt by its acceptance. You see, if a patient utilizes chelation therapy they avoid expensive drug treatment and surgeries, jealous medicine can’t stand that. Pharmaceutical companies squirm. Keep in mind they want to ban some bio-identical hormone replacement hormones compounded by pharmacies. On that note, a drug company has a form of one of the hormones soon to be released on the market in combination with other things and the compounding pharmacists are competition. So big pharma is trying to wipe them out through the FDA.
Back to chelation. For those a bit in the dark, the most widely used chelating agent is EDTA, it is used as a food additive to preserve food, it appears in the bottom of that little tube they use when they draw your blood. Why? Because it keeps the blood from clotting so they can run tests. Interesting. What is the cause of 90% of heart attacks? Blood clots. See the connection. EDTA chelation therapy can help prevent blood clots by reducing the stickiness of platlets, those little guys in your blood stream that clump together when you cut yourself to make a blood clot so you do not bleed to death. Preventing abnormal blood clotting is a real plus when you have heart disease. Think of how many blood thinners you would not have to take.
Now, there is the use of intravenous chelation therapy for kids with autism. We do not do that in our office so I am not speaking from great observation here but there is a death of child from western Pennsylvania that is cited by the critics to showcase the DANGERS of chelation therapy to scare people away. What they do not say is the chelating agent used when the child died was the wrong one, it was a drug error. The technicians used the wrong agent and dropped the calcium levels in the child. Had they used caEDTA (calcium EDTA) the child would be fine. A medical mistake. Do you know how many people die and are harmed by drug errors improper precriptions and use in standard medical care?? Tens of thousands every year.
Now to make the matters worse, friends of chelation tout oral chelation as a replacement for intravenous chelation therapy for people with heart disease, diabetes, arthritis or people who want to prevent those things. I was just on one website selling oral chelation and all the references they cited to back up their claims were studies using INTRAVENOUS chelation therapy. Apples and oranges, no worse, apples and ice cream. So there is competition within the ranks of the good guys trying to bring the public a new and effective answer for chronic health problems and the aging process. EEEEEE GADES.
What remains is that you need to protect yourself with a little study and research and look at the data and if you find something weird, it probably is weird. Think for yourself and work out for yourself what should be done for health. You are being lied to at every turn. The more confused you become the easier it is to sell you a bill of goods and take away your rights to good medical care.