by Anju Mathur, M.D.
Chelation (pronounced key-LAY-shun) is a term derived from the Greek chele, meaning, “claw.” A chelation agent is a chemical agent that, like a claw, grabs and chemically bonds with metals or other minerals and toxins. Simply put, chelation is the process in which chemicals bind with minerals. While chelation is a naturally occurring biological process (hemoglobin binds with iron to provide oxygen to tissues), synthesized chelation agents were first developed during World War II as a way to clear toxic metals from the body. Chemists discovered they could create a ring of molecules, which surround or “sequester” mineral molecules and carry them from the body through normal elimination.
Chelation is a well-known method of heavy metal and toxin removal in which a special chemical compound called a chelate - such as dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), dimercaptopropane sulfonate (DMPS), or ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) - is given, usually intravenously. The chelate finds and forms a single attachment to the toxin with one reversible bond. With that bond intact, the toxin is grabbed onto, pulled off the cell and carried from the body. However, the toxin isn't neutralized during this process and is potentially able to attach to other cells on its way out.
A synthetic amino acid, which has been useful as a heavy metal chelating material, is EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra-Acetic Acid). It is an FDA-approved treatment for lead, mercury, aluminum and cadmium removal, and has been used for lead chelating for over 50 years. EDTA also Assists in restoring blood vessels jammed with calcium and arterial plaque. Basically EDTA is non-toxic and has few noticeable side effects. Unfortunately, it can also chelate necessary minerals and other elements from the body, so the treatment should be supplemented with vitamins and minerals.
This process of chelation actually removes unwanted metals from the bloodstream. In fact, chelation therapy is the only way to treat lead poisoning. But lead isn't the only metal cleansed from the body through chelation. A chelation agent will also bind with most metals, mineral deposits, calcium-based plaques and other chemical toxins. Because of its positive impact on the bloodstream, chelation therapy has proven to benefit a number of medical conditions, including atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries by plaque deposits) and arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and diabetes.
In the textbook of EDTA Chelation Therapy by Cranton, clinical studies and research has shown that EDTA chelation treatment is just as beneficial as bypass surgery and angioplasty, or even more effective. It’s hard to do double blind studies to prove or disprove the clinical results of bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty.
Chelation treatment is done in the doctor’s office. No hospitals, surgeons, cardiologists are needed, and the Massive “team” of healthcare professionals who make a great deal of money from surgery and angioplasty are prone to lose their $6 billion a year from these procedures as more people turn to chelation. More people have received chelation than either of the above-mentioned procedures. Moreover, as chelation includes dietary changes, slicing out highly processed foods and supplementing the diet with non-prescription nutrition, pharmaceutical companies lose out on their over-priced and hugely profitable drugs.
The most frequent criticism leveled by critics of non-traditional and alternative medical therapies is that new treatments are “unproven” because randomized, double-blind, controlled studies have not yet been done to prove effectiveness. Those criticisms ignore the fact that most medical procedures routinely performed in the practice of medicine are also unproven using those same criteria.
In fact, the United States has the most advanced high technology hospital and surgical care in its history, yet 800,000 people die each year from arteriosclerosis and complications thereof. It is absurd to deny patients the option of undergoing EDTA chelation as a less High-priced and at least just as effective substitute to surgery and angioplasty. The reduction in cost would be a great savings to medical insurance companies and hopefully result in lowered insurance premiums.
How about the improvement in quality of life?
Chelation patients have a tremendous increase in their expected life, even though the chelation Doctors are reluctant to admit it. It turns out that intravenous chelation therapy greatly reduces the risk of cancer as well as further heart disease. The chelation treatment deals with basic sources of all illness — the little particles of metal, which accumulate over time and which greatly, increase the production of free radicals in the body. As the interior source of free radical production is reduced, by more than one million times, the acceleration of aging stops and people generally feel much younger.
When the toxic metals are removed from the body by intravenous chelation therapy, billions and billions of free radicals are prevented from being created because the metals are now gone. When they exist in the body, they encourage a Huge production of free radicals.
So, immediately all that poison being produced in the body STOPS.
It reverses the symptoms of heart disease and prevents cancer. These are the two biggest killers in society today.
What chelation handles is the damage caused by free radicals; the therapeutic benefit of the chelating substance in reducing free radical activity and even reversing damage that had been done by those free radicals is astounding.
This informative article isn't intended to provide medical counsel for individuals, but is for education of the reader. Qualified health practitioners dispense medical advice.