CHELATION THERAPY
The Treatment of Choice:
For Relief From, and Prevention of, Cardiovascular and Age-Related Diseases.
The Chelation Therapy Clinic
“… I’m happy to say ‘The quality of my life has been greatly improved’…”
This blog answers some of the more important questions about Chelation Therapy. This adpoted from the book "The Chelation Therapy Clinic".
Chelation Therapy was first used in the 1950’s, to treat patients for lead-poisoning. Doctors were fascinated to notice remarkable improvements in other medical conditions.
During the next 15 years many studies were done which indicated the effectiveness of Chelation Therapy. Unfortunately, with the development of major heart surgery, many doctors turned their backs on Chelation Therapy.
However, some doctors have continued to make Chelation Therapy available to their patients. They do this because the results they get are so good, and the procedure is so safe.
Many attempts have been made to determine why Chelation Therapy is so effective. Nobody knows the complete answer to this question – which also applies to other popular medical treatments.
Some of the answers are to be found in the removal of toxic metals from the body and in a new branch of medicine called Free Radical Pathology. But all the exact reasons why Chelation Therapy is so very effective have yet to be discovered.
In the meantime, its main testimonial is the word of thousands upon thousands of patients and their doctors. So successful is the therapy, that it could be considered a major criticism of the Health Care System that the therapy is not freely available to patients who suffer from a wide range of complaints.
Nonetheless, it is available here and now. It is simple, safe, and in relation to the potential benefits, it is inexpensive.
Chelation (pronounced KEY-LAY-SHUN) is a natural process by which a metal or mineral is bonded to another substance, and can then be moved or removed. For example, red blood cells contain a chelate of iron, and enable molecules of iron to be moved around the body.
Certain substances have the property of bonding to toxic or improperly situated metals in the human body. They are then removed to pass out harmlessly in the urine. By far the most widely used of these substances, and one with a proven safety record, is a man-made amino acid called EDTA (Ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetate).
EDTA is essentially non-toxic, and is an approved food preservative. It is also used as a preservative for soft contact lenses and in pharmaceuticals to give them longer shelf-life.
In chelation therapy, a solution of EDTA is slowly infused through a small needle placed in the patient’s arm. Each treatment takes about 3 hours, and two treatments are possible each week.
The molecules of EDTA bond to metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, calcium, aluminium, and remove them from places where they are doing harm.
Some of the effects are that blood flow is increased, blood vessels become more flexible, and the whole body simply becomes more efficient.
…How many Times does this have To Be Done?
It depends on the individual. For preventive purposes one treatment every 3 months could be adequate.
Where there are clear symptoms of disease, 20 to 30 treatments would normally be recommended, followed by 4 or more treatments each year.
For people with extensive cardiovascular disease the most recent recommendation is to follow-up with regular monthly treatments.
…When is Chelation Therapy Helpful?
1. CHELATION IS USED TODAY IN HOSPITALS FOR LEAD POISONING.
2. THE FOLLOWING ILLNESSES AND SYMPTOMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED
IN MEDICAL LITERATURE. TO RESPOND TO CHELATION THERAPY.
Arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis (hardening and blocking of the arteries)
Angina
High Blood Pressure
High cholesterol
Vertigo
Reduced blood circulation (cold hands and feet)
Leg ulceration
Intermittent claudication (cramp-like pain on walking)
Cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart-beat)
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Diabetic retinopathy (damage to retina of eye)
Porphyria
Macular degeneration
Systemic sclerosis (scleroderma)
Nephrocalcinosis (kidney stones)
Symptoms of senility
Poisoning with some Radioisotopes
Gangrene
Tinnitus (ringing in ears)
THE FOLLOWING LIST CONTAINS IMPROVEMENTS REPORTED BY PATIENTS AND THEIR DOCTORS AFTER CHELATION:
Those listed above, plus:
Lowered Blood Pressure
Improved hearing
Improved eyesight
Increased exercise ability
Improved heart function
Improved sense of well-being
Improved sexual function
Improved memory
Parkinson’s Disease symptoms reduced
Senility & Alzheimer’s Disease symptoms reduced
Increased feelings of warmth and strength
Small cataracts disappear
Brown spots on hands reduced
Restoration of Hair Colour
Improved skin texture and tone
In a healthy person blood-flow should peak quickly with each beat of the heart. Graphs of blood-flow measurements will show these peaks, high and pointed.
As arteries become blocked the peaks become smaller and rounder and the risks of heart-attack or stroke increase.
Here we see a dramatic increase in blood-flow after 24 chelation treatments. The patient’s feet became warm again. The blockage in his forehead, which his doctor had told him would lead to a stroke, was cleared.
…How Likely is it That Somebody Will Benefit from Chelation?
Unfortunately, no medical treatment is 100% effective, and many are rated at 50% or less. The success-rate of treatment for chelation depends on what your problems are, and on your own unique biological make-up.
It also depends on your willingness to make the necessary commitment to changing diet, taking the prescribed mineral supplements, and avoiding risk-factors such as excessive alcohol, smoking, lack of exercise, etc.
However, the following results have been reported:
Cardiovascular Illness
“EDTA Chelation Therapy has provided an average of 82% success rate for improving circulation among all the patients who have received an adequate injection series.
These figures are from the clinical records of more than 200 physician members of the American Association for the Advancement of Medicine. These are the doctors, in the United States who have made Chelation Therapy for victims of hardening of the arteries a new specialty in medicine.”
(From The Chelation Answer by M.Walker D.P.M. and G.Gordon M.D., M.Evans and Company, New York 1982.)
Other Conditions
For complaints other than those of the circulatory system, the likelihood of improvement is probably reduced, but there have been many positive reports.
The New Zealand Experience
In a questionnaire conducted among patients at the Auckland Chelation Therapy Clinic by Dr Jim Sprott, some 700 questionnaires were sent out asking the following question:
“…DID YOU BENEFIT FROM THE TREATMENTS?”
Of the over 500 who replied the following results were obtained:
Yes, very much | 42% |
Yes, quite a lot | 25% |
Yes, a little | 19% |
No, not at all | 14% |
…Does It Hurt? What Does It Feel Like?
Being ‘chelated’ is quite different from many other medical treatments. There is no pain, and any discomfort is rare. Patients are seated in reclining chairs, and can read, nap, chat, etc, while the fluid is slowly infused. They can eat and drink as they wish, visit the toilet, and even make telephone calls.
…How Soon will The Benefits be Felt?
Some people experience the first benefits after two to three treatments, while for others the benefits are more delayed. For some, the benefits show up only after the course of treatment is finished. (See table One further down this blog).
…Are There any Risks or Unpleasant Side Effects?
For almost everybody there is no problem at all. Occasional side effects such as mild nausea, dizziness or headache may be experienced. The attending doctor is able to help prevent or treat these.
There is a very small risk of more serious complications, estimated at 1 in 10,000 patients treated. This makes it one of the safest of all medical procedures.
In over 6 years experience in N.Z. Clinics, and some 20,000 treatments, the worst thing that has happened to any patient was a severe attack of hypoglycemia (low blood-sugar). Patients can avoid hypoglycemia by following advice to eat well before and during the treatment.
It must be remembered too that this remarkable safety record is achieved despite the fact that many chelation patients are ‘on their last legs’. One would have expected more problems, even by coincidence.
Kidney Failure?
The reports of a few deaths due to kidney failure which are sometimes (unfairly) quoted, refer back about 30 years, when doctors were still learning about chelation. They gave extra-large doses too quickly and overloaded the kidneys of a few patients. Since then, no death has occurred when approved procedures are followed. In fact, Chelation Therapy sometimes improves kidney function.
Of course, a properly run Chelation Clinic will prescribe preliminary tests to determine any risk-factors. If any kidney weakness was found, the dose of EDTA would either be reduced, or treatment would be refused. Continued assessment throughout the course of therapy ensures everything is going properly.
Any slight risk of discomfort or side-effects of chelation must be seen in relation to the accepted risks of procedures such as by-pass surgery (up to 3% fatality rate), or even angiography (0.1 to 1%).
…Is There any Risk of Getting AIDS?
Not the tiniest risk. The drip bottle contains no products from human blood, and all needles etc used are new, straight out of the factory-sealed packet. Hygiene standards are equal to those at any superior medical establishment. All procedures are carried out by qualified medical personnel.
…If Chelation Removes Calcium, Won’t It Cause Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is loss of calcium from the bone.
One of the most remarkable things about chelation therapy is that, while it does in fact remove some calcium, it seems that much of the calcium is removed from places where it should not be, and that subsequently more calcium is put in the places where it should be. In other words it corrects the wrongful distribution of calcium in the body.
One of the leading researchers into chelation wrote:
“…no evidence of iatrogenic [ie. Caused by the treatment] osteoporosis has been found and in some cases of [pre-existing] osteoporosis there seems to occur a slow and gradual intensification of bone density as seen on periodic x-ray films and densimetric studies.”
(C.P.Lamar, in Angiology, 1964 (15), 379-394.)
It seems that the temporary lowering of blood calcium during treatment, cause a renewed stimulus to bone formation.
To ensure that the body has enough calcium available for replacement, mineral supplements are always prescribed.
…What Else is In The Drip Bottle?
This will vary for each patient as a result of tests and assessments done. But, in general, it will be a solution of not only the EDTA, but also vitamins and minerals shown to be helpful in making Chelation Therapy as successful as possible. These are dissolved in standard fluid-replacement solutions.
…Can You Tell me More About The Tests That are Done?
They are of 3 kinds.
To check on the patient’s general health, checking that basic organs such as liver and kidneys would not be over-stressed by Chelation Therapy.
To assess the cardiovascular system, including blood pressure and flow.
Checks on levels of some nutritional vitamins and minerals.
…What do you say Chelation is The ‘Treatment of Choice’?
FIRSTLY, Chelation Therapy gets a lot closer to correcting the basic cause of some kinds of illness.
SURGERY simply replaces the most worn-out parts in the most obvious places. Replacing a cardiac artery with a vein taken from the leg, does not do much for blood vessels in the feet or the brain. Chelation, on the other hand, seems to benefit all the blood vessels in the body, large and small, and makes replacement less likely to be necessary.
DRUGS (beta-blockers, calcium antagonists, anginine) correct some of the effects of cardio-vascular aging and degeneration. They help control symptoms and prevent emergencies.
As many users testify, these drugs, particularly the beta-blockers, are capable of producing severe and potentially dangerous side-effects.
CHELATION THERAPY, by removal of toxic metals, helps restore body tissues and processes in many different ways. The body can then function better and more naturally.
One of the most improved functions is blood circulation. This then produces its own series of benefits, such as enabling the natural healing and restorative systems of the body to be more effective.
Very often too, drug requirements, and hence side-effects, are reduced after chelation. (Note however, that no sudden changes of medication are prescribed for chelation patients.)
SECONDLY, it is an example of a new trend in medicine which involves the patient in the decision-making process.
It is very important for people to get the opinion of their regular doctors and traditional specialists.
But, increasingly, people also want to know what the other options might be.
If, after reading and hearing about Chelation Therapy, somebody decides that it may help them to avoid an operation, or get more out of life, or live longer, the option is there for them to choose.
Photograph 1 shows a patient’s feet, two days before his scheduled operation for amputation because of diabetic gangrene and ulcerations. He could bear nothing on his feet, not even socks, because of the pain. After just one week of chelation therapy, however (Photograph 2), the gangrene has been reversed and the ulcerated areas are beginning to heal. Two months after the last of fifteen chelation treatments (Photograph 3), the diabetic gangrene was eliminated and the patient could wear shoes. Two months later (Photograph 4), all ulcerations have disappeared and the feet are completely normal.
(From “Chelation Therapy”, by Morton Walker)
…If Chelation is so Good, Why isn’t It Used more Widely?
This is a question with several answers.
Most people know that the medical profession is a little slow to take up new ideas. This is not always a bad thing of course, but it can sometimes mean a long wait before people get help from something new.
A good example of this is acupuncture, which 20 years ago was ridiculed, mainly because doctors couldn’t see how it could possibly work. Even today, how it works is still not known, but it is powerful enough to replace anaesthetics in major surgery.
The Pharmaceutical Industry
It costs many millions of dollars to do the exhaustive trials which prove in elaborate detail that a substance is effective. For a company to get a return on this expenditure, they must have the patent rights to that substance. Then, the price they charge can pay for the trials.
EDTA, the active ingredient for Chelation Therapy, was patented in 1935 for use in the textile industry. By the time its effectiveness for human disease was being demonstrated in open trials, the manufacturing company was about to lose patent rights. So it decided not to finance the expensive final trials.*
Another reason that Chelation never caught on was because the early 1960s was a time of great hope that there would soon be a ‘pill for every ill’. Chelation, by contract, seemed time-consuming and expensive.
*Of recent times there have been several trials of Chelation Therapy funded by chelating doctors. In each case significant benefit was shown. And now, a major study on Chelation Therapy has just been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, again funded by chelating doctors.
The Surgery Industry
Also in the 1960s, new techniques of heart surgery were offering great hope. “New parts for old bodies” seemed to be a good answer, and many spectacular technical successes were achieved. There were enormous profits and great reputations to be made in supplying skills, supplies and elaborate equipment for these operations.
As a consequence, doctors were diverted away from chelation, a procedure which offered no glamour and no drama, no battle for life in the arena of the operating theatre.
By 1987, the marketing of Bypass surgery in the United States has resulted in an expected 500,000 cases for the year, a US$6,000,000,000 industry.
The Insurance Industry
If Chelation Therapy is so helpful, why don’t the Medical Insurance companies support its use?
After all, wouldn’t it make sound economic sense to replace a risky $50,000 operation with a safe $2-3000 procedure?
It would indeed. But the insurance companies may well fear that too many people would qualify for chelation, as it is effective for such a wide range of disorders.* This would end up costing them more in the long run. Who would not want to be chelated if it were ‘free’?
The fact that Chelation Therapy is restricted to the few was what led a leading Chelation Specialist to write:
“As of this writing, being chelated is much like having an extraordinary beauty or great wealth – a rare and distinctive pleasure to be enjoyed by a relatively small elite portion of the population”.
(Dr E.Cranton, M.D., in Bypassing Bypass)
*Of interest is a recent legal case in Southern California where a 66-year-old businessman with pain and ulceration in his leg had successful Chelation Therapy. When he claimed expenses for the therapy from his Insurance Company, they refused to pay, because the treatment was ‘experimental’. The case was eventually settled out of court for $60,000 after the Attorney acting for the businessman discovered that the Insurance Company was paying for Chelation treatments for its own employees!
Misinformation
There is no doubt that Chelation Therapy has been the victim of grossly dishonest publicity from some of those who do not make it available.
The substantial medical literature pointing towards its wide-ranging effectiveness has been ignored, the few early adverse effects have been exaggerated out of all proportion, and life has been made difficult for those doctors who have continued to use it. Some doctors in the U.S.A. are ‘closet chelators’, who treat only themselves, their families, and trusted friends!
Another kind of misinformation has resulted from over-simple descriptions of what happens during Chelation by some chelating doctors.
In the attempt to provide a simple explanation for patients, chelation has been described as a form of ‘liquid bottle brush’, for scouring plaque deposits away from inside clogged arteries. While this description seems to have a considerable degree of truth, it is only part of the story; Chelation seems to have other effects which may be much more significant.
…What Does the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand Say about Chelation?
In June 1985, “Report 44” was released. Written by Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr David Cole, it concluded that:
“…chelation therapy for arterial disease has not been shown to have a sound theoretical or scientific basis, nor has it been shown to be acceptable for controlled clinic therapeutic trials...Proponents of chelation therapy frequently quote over 1000 scientific articles and reviews…Few are in acceptable journals, and none come close to the standard of trial now required by government and pharmaceutical agencies…”
This doesn’t sound very good, on the surface, but what are the proven therapies?
Bypass Surgery Not Proven
In 1978, the Office of Technology Assessment of the Congress of the United States (Chairman, Senator Edward Kennedy), produced a Report entitled Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Medical Technologies. It included the following statement:
“Coronary bypass surgery was introduced in the early 1970’s. In this procedure a graft is put on the coronary artery to bypass the constricted portion of the artery. This procedure has become the primary surgical approach for treatment of coronary artery disease. Approximately 25,000 operations were performed in 1973, and at least 70,000 in 1977. Yet the benefits of coronary bypass surgery have not been clearly demonstrated. Claims that the operation prevents death remain largely unproven.”
So, the same argument the National Heart Foundation Report’s author used against chelation, applies to his own specialty!
___________________________________________________________________
*Curiously, the author describes chelation as being ‘dramatic and invasive’. Is it really more invasive than angiography and surgery?
**Further refutation of the author’s arguments, including claims that, in one study, improvements shown after chelation might be due to the ‘common placebo effect’ is found in an article in the New Zealand Medicinal Journal, by a doctor who uses chelation. As he points out, ‘none of the patients on placebo received any benefit…’, a fact not indicated by the author. (letter in “The New Zealand Medical Journal”, 14 August, 1985.)
___________________________________________________________________
80-90% of Medical Procedures not Proven
Of interest is another statement in the U.S. Congress Report:
“It has been estimated that only 10 to 20 percent of all procedures currently used in medical practice have been shown to be efficacious by controlled trials…”
Angiography Unreliable
Angiography is routinely used in hospitals to examine a patients’ arteries. It is often painful, involves x-rays, and can have many side-effects.
In 1979 a Report to the American Heart Association revealed that angiograms are interpreted wrongly about 40% of the time, even by experts. Furthermore they were found to be unreliable indicators of coronary narrowing in 80% of cases! This makes nonsense of claims by some critics of chelation that angiograms should be used to evaluate chelation therapy.
It would appear that Chelation is at least as well proven as the great majority of medical therapies. In addition, it is simple, safe, and attracts a high level of patient support.
No study has ever shown chelation to be ineffective.
When doctors or organizations want evidence against chelation, they usually refer to the 1963 study by Kitchell and Meltzer – as Dr Cole did. (“The Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease with Disodium EDTA, A Reappraisal”, Amer. Jnl. Of Cardiology, 1963, 11;501)
These authors, after publishing 7 articles on the beneficial effects of chelation, did a further study involving 28 patients, each of whom had an ‘historically unquestionable…history of angina due to coronary artery disease’. The results were:
Table One
PERCENTAGE IMPROVEMENT | PATIENTS’
ASSESSMENT | ECG | EXERCISE ABILITY |
Immediately after treatment | 7.1% | 7.1% | 7.1% |
6 weeks after treatment | 35.7% | 28.6% | 35.7% |
12 weeks after treatment | 64.2% | 46.4% | 64.2% |
(Not one patient was worse after 6 weeks in any of the measurements)
And yet, despite the above figures, the authors said that they concluded that ‘[EDTA therapy]… is not a useful clinical tool in the treatment of coronary disease at this time’. As other doctors have pointed out, the same figures can be used to come to exactly the opposite conclusion!
The Delayed Reaction Factor
This important factor is demonstrated clearly by the above study. While it is still observed even today, it seems to have been particularly strong in the above study. There is a good explanation for this.
Good chelation practice includes adding beneficial minerals and vitamins to the drip bottle and also giving supplements by mouth. Some of these are needed to restore levels of nutritional substances also removed by the EDTA.
The authors of the above study included nothing else but EDTA in the drip bottle. This may well have slowed down the body’s ability to respond to chelation.
In summary, it seems that even this ‘most unfavourable’ report on chelation therapy does not justify the conclusion the authors made, and the results could well have been even better had the best modern chelation practice been followed.
Note too that the authors, in the same study:
1. State that ‘… we feel that chelation can have influence on and improve blood flow in small “below the knee” arteries…’
2. Reproduce graphs showing the improvement in exercise ability after chelation therapy.
One cannot help wondering whether these authors, in trying to dismiss chelation therapy, were going along with the prevailing optimism that surgery and new drugs would be the solutions of the future. One might also speculate about what pressures the authors faced from the flourishing surgical and pharmaceutical industries.
…Why does Chelation Therapy Seem Expensive?
With Chelation Therapy, unlike most other medical procedures, nothing is subsidized by the Government. The patient has to pay the full cost of everything. This includes, in addition to the cost of the materials.
Overseas trips to the American College for Advancement in Medicine for medical doctors training in the techniques of Chelation.
The purchase of special equipment for preliminary and ongoing assessment of the patient, with back-up emergency equipment should it ever be required.
The provision of fully qualified medical personnel to cover all aspects of the therapy.
The provision of pleasant and comfortable surroundings.
Back-up staff for administration, education etc.
The investment required to bring even more advanced techniques to New Zealand. In clinics overseas chelation is often just one of several different techniques used. The providers of chelation are keen to make these other options available here.
In New Zealand, unlike some other countries, we are not used to facing the very significant costs involved in all medical procedures. We are used to having these costs met by the taxpayer.
Chelation is actually no more expensive than many of the alternatives, such as extended prescriptions of drugs: and it is much less expensive than surgery.
In personal terms, a treatment which offers say, a 75% chance of getting several years fuller enjoyment of life for $2-3000 has to be good value.
However, most of us tend to be much happier spending large sums of money on a new car or an overseas trip, than we are spending a fraction of that amount on our health and our capacity to enjoy the things we have.
Some Quotes on Chelation
“…there has been impressive symptomatic relief in 87 percent of a large series of patients with angina pectoris, few recurrences of symptoms and a significant lowering of previously reported mortality rates.”
(Norman E.Clarke, Chairman of Research, Providence Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, in The American Journal of Cardiology, August 1960.)
“When a patient comes and says ‘Doctor, I’ve been to everybody and every department and nobody can do anything for me’ – they’re the ones we receive most hopefully.”
(N.Z. General Practitioner, speaking on Radio Pacific Talkback, March 1987)
“I was 26 and a half when I went to my doctor. And I said, ‘I’ve got cold feet and I’ve got a thumping heart.’…after the chelation the T-wave inversion was reduced by 66% and I can go around in bare feet.”
(Nigel, on Radio Pacific Talkback)
“A carefully selected group of patients with various forms of occlusive atherosclerosis have been under study for the last six years. For periods ranging from three months to over three years they were treated with intravenous…EDTA.
In view of the repeatedly confirmed safety of this therapy and its possible great benefits in the preservation of usable and enjoyable life and health for the many millions of people affected by calcific atherosclerosis… a concerted study… should be carried out..”
(Carlos P.Lamar, M.D. in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Vol XIV, No 3, 1966)
“He duly took chelation, and now, whereas previously he was quite impotent, now he has an active sex life. Whereas previously he was virtually crippled, he is now in a very senior executive position and I believe is actually building his own house. That’s in the space of two years.”
(Dr Jim Sprott, on Radio Pacific Talkback. Dr Sprott is a well-known retired analytical chemist, forensic scientist and writer. He has become an outspoken advocate of Chelation Therapy, after he researched chelation literature, and he and his wife took successful courses of treatment.)
“It was new to me, too, and I’m sure it’s new to most people everywhere. I could talk for hours about it, but, in a few words, I can tell you that when you liberate the pathways, the arteries, to your heart or any part of your body, the circulation will be improved…I found that after three or four treatments you are freer, you see better, you hear better, you walk better, and you ARE better. That’s why I have the nerve to say, “I think – I won’t say I will – I can live to be 100.”
(Gayelord Hauser, nutritional writer in Chelation Extends Life by Dr J.J.Julian M.D., Wellness Press, 1981)
“All I really wanted was for the circulation in my legs to improve so that I could walk without pain. This was achieved, and now I attend the YMCA gymnasium every weekday morning for one hour, and I have very little difficulty in carrying out the prescribed exercises. I look and feel a lot better and am very much fitter.”
(Auckland chelation patient, replying to Dr Sprott’s questionnaire)
“I’m one of those people with a foot in both camps… I’m a financial supporter of Heart Foundation since it started… Quite suddenly six years ago I was in Green Lane emergency for open-heart surgery stitched up with 4 bypasses… I asked what went wrong and nobody seemed to know… Three years later I knew I was in trouble… I was luckily rescued… I thought ‘Something’s wrong’. I’d heard of chelation, and I’ll give it a go. And while I was there the Report 44 came out, and it poured a lot of cold water onto my therapy. But I persisted – by my criteria chelation was doing me good… Having listened to Dr C. this morning, frankly I was shocked. I thought that the Heart Foundation had really researched chelation…”
(Rick, on Talkback Radio Pacific)
“Close examination of medical and surgical literature shows that significant proportions of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery do not achieve an angina-free state; of those who do, a large proportion will relapse over the ensuing 4-6 years. It is apparent from the literature that coronary bypass surgery does not reverse the underlying processes of atherosclerosis…”
(Dr D.J.Wehrly M.D., in Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, November 1983)
“Dr Eckerly… says she considers chelation therapy ‘an intriguing phenomenon’. She is continually amazed at the results she gets with patients. Ultimately, she believes, the value of chelation will lie in what it will tell us about how the body really functions. Whatever EDTA is doing, she says, is the result of some principle that we don’t know how to name yet. She believes that the ability of chelation to help with cardiovascular symptoms in the body is the key to a door – a door that will open into a greater understanding of aging and health. ‘It must be investigated further. Here we’ve got a hold of something that’s having a positive effect on about 80 percent of the people we give it to. You just can’t say, “Well, no”’…”
(Gary Null, Penthouse, February 1986)
“Recently I went to my optometrist for my annual check-up. I had thought I had been seeing better, and told her about chelation. She said my eyes were better than ever before, and seemed quite excited. We decided it must be the chelation had increased blood circulation in my head. My memory is better and I feel better generally.”
(Questionnaire reply)
“And so I did look into chelation therapy and have tried to be objective. I studied the arguments, pro and con. I studied the reports of chelating physicians and orthodox physicians. Having done so, I have concluded that chelation therapy is a safe, useful, extremely promising therapy for many cardiovascular conditions, albeit somewhat expensive and time-consuming. Further, I am inclined to believe its value may even extend beyond its cardiovascular application to include prevention of cancer and immune disorders, and the retardation of aging.”
(Robert C. Atkins, M.D.)
“My poor circulation had forced me to wear socks to bed for years. After two treatments my hands and feet turned warm. Since my series of 21 treatments, I drive a motorcycle, practice medicine, and don’t worry. I continue to take treatments when I can schedule them… Two years later, I’m happy to say ‘The quality of my life has been greatly improved’…”
(A 72-year-old doctor)
“The whole attitude of the clinic was professional. No promises of miracles were made, but the early improvement was dramatic. I am of the opinion that the treatment should be offered to improve any condition for which there is apparently no other. If it does good, it does no harm, and in my case, it did substantial good in the relief of symptoms.”
(Questionnaire reply)
Metals In the Human Body
Many explanations have been suggested as to why Chelation Therapy works.
The most obvious starting-point is to consider how polluted our environment – and we – have become with toxic metals.
Small amounts of metals have an incredibly powerful effect in the body, for good or bad.
The beneficial metals (zinc, copper, manganese etc) are the basis of the body’s enzyme systems. Without them the body will simply not function.
However, just as traces of these metals are absolutely necessary for the body to survive, traces of other metals can cause immeasurable harm. Among other damaging effects, they can inactivate the vital enzymes upon which so much depends.
We live in an environment today which, unlike that of our ancestors, is seriously polluted with harmful metals. In addition, levels of ‘protective’ metals in our diets, such as zinc, are often diminished.
Lead is extremely toxic, and yet our environment brings us into frequent contact with it, especially in vehicle exhaust. The ‘safe dose’ of lead keeps being reduced as more sensitive studies are done.
Mercury is even more toxic than lead, and damages the immune system. People have had to be warned against eating fish too often because of the build-up of this poisonous metal in the marine food chain. People also absorb mercury from the fillings in their teeth.
Aluminium has been found in toxic concentrations in parts of the brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease. Aluminium is found in food cooked in aluminium pots, in deodorants, in tap water, in baking powder, in processed cheese, and some drugs and foods.
Chelation Therapy is a potent force to remove
from the body and thereby inactivate
lead, mercury, aluminium and many other toxic metals.
FROM: METAL IONS IN NEUROLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY, (Allan R. Liss, 1985.)
“Recent evidence is mounting that in a variety of dementing and a psychiatric diseases brain metabolism of trace metals is distributed: in particular, increased brain accumulation of toxic metals has been noted…”
(J.C.K.Lai, Dementia Research Service, Department of Neurology, Cornell Medical College, and others.)
“Metal ions exist in our everyday environment – food, water, and air. Many of the metallic elements, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc are essential to the well-being of our health; others such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, may pose a hazard to human health”
(L.W.Chang, Departments of Pathology/Interdisciplinary Toxicology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.)
“Renewed interest in the toxicity of aluminium has implicated this common environmental element as a pathogenic factor in several human diseases. While pulmonary disease induced by massive amounts of aluminium has been recognized for 40 years, the subtle, delayed metabolic effects have only recently been reported.
…Since Alzheimer’s disease is a major health problem approaching epidemic proportions in the elderly, and is currently untreatable and invariably fatal, the possible contribution of aluminium to the disease demands assessment.”
(D.R.C.McLachlan and B.J.Farnell, Dept of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto.)
“Individual variations in adaptability or tolerance to lead make it imppisble to predict a level at which frank or clinical poisoning can occur”
(C.Winder and P.Lewis, Toxicology Branch, Commonwealth Dept of Health, Australia.)
“ETDA Chelation has long been accepted as a treatment of choice for heavy metal poisoning. Toxic heavy metals effect metabolism in a variety of ways. Poisonous metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium react avidly with sulfur-containing amino acids on protein molecules. When lead reacts with a sulfur on the cysteine or methionine moiety of a large protein molecule, enzyme activity is destroyed.
Concentrations of lead in human bones have increased more than 500 fold since the Industrial Revolution. Bone lead is in equilibrium with other vital organs and tends to be released into the circulation under stress increasing toxicity when it can be least tolerated. Chelation Therapy reactivates enzymes by removing toxic heavy metals.”
FROM ‘BYPASSING BYPASS’ BY E. CRANTON M.D.
“Over 800 tons of lead are released into the N.Z. atmosphere every year…”
FROM THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
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