What is Chelation Therapy?

Chelation (key-layshun) therapy is a means of clearing the body of excess metals and minerals. it's traditionally administered through an IV infusion containing a synthetic amino acid called ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA). EDTA is a known chelating agent-meaning that it binds to metal and mineral molecules. (For this reason, the treatment is often referred to as "EDTA chelation.") The EDTA and the metal molecules are then excreted out of the body through the urine and feces. First used in the 1940's for heavy metal toxicity, chelation therapy was approved by the FDA for lead poisoning and remains the conventional treatment of choice. But in the 1960's, some forward-thinking doctors theorized that EDTA chelation might work for other problems as well, like combating the buildup of plaque in the arteries. Talk about bad timing-about the time chelation was being suggested as a treatment for atherosclerosis, the first "successful" coronary bypass surgery was performed. The mainstream medical community embraced the bypass approach with fervor, and chelation was left in the dust. But a small group of physicians stuck with it. And although most mainstream doctors still recommend costly, dangerous, and terribly invasive surgery, the IV chelation approach has grown slowly but steadily over the last several decades. The American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), a professional association that supports the use of chelation therapy, estimates that there were more than 800,000 IV chelation therapy sessions in the U.S. in 1997 alone.

Chelation Benefits Chelation FAQ's Chelation Studies

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So how does chelation impact heart health? The original theory was that EDTA chelation rids the body of calcium deposits that led to "hardening of the arteries" (or calcification). Some research suggested that high levels of accumulated iron in men and postmenopausal women explained their higher heart attack risk, and that removing that iron through chelation could lower that risk.

When scientists began to understand the devastating effects of oxidation on the heart, chelation researchers learned that excess metals in the body encourage the production of free radicals and molecule fragments.

Chelation helps reduce the levels of metals in the body, thereby reducing the production of free radicals and preventing peroxidation or breakdown of cell membranes, DNA, enzymes, and lipoproteins. Plus, reducing the free radical threat frees up the body's natural healing mechanisms, so those resources can be directed at halting or even reversing the progression of disease.

Recently, researchers proposed another explanation for chelation's heart-healthy benefits. The endothelium, or lining of the arteries, produces several vital substances that reduce blood flow resistance. For example, the endothelium generates nitric oxide (NO), which causes capillary relaxation and expansion; prostacyclin, a prostaglandin which slows blood platelet aggregation and promotes vasodilation; and heparin, a natural substance with the same name as a blood-thinning drug, which prevents clotting. All these substances are critical to maintaining optimal blood circulation. But excess heavy metals in the body can diminish the endothelium's ability to produce NO, prostacyclin, and heparin-a triple whammy for your arteries. Chelation therapy can remove those heavy metals, restoring optimal production of these substances critical to cardiovascular health.

Chelation authorities now say that the therapy's beneficial effects on blood circulation may also have positive effects on impotence, intermittent claudication, and vision problems like age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. And new research suggests that removing heavy metals through chelation can treat and/or prevent many serious diseases, including pancreatitis, gout, both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis-even cancer.

The research supporting metal toxicity's link with cancer is particularly intriguing. Several studies have linked high body iron stores with an increased risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer. In one study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, women with the highest iron levels were 50 percent more likely to develop any type of cancer than women with the lowest iron levels. Chelation may reduce that risk by binding and eliminating high body iron stores.

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