Heart disease is still the number one killer of both men and women in the U.S., and it does not seem to be getting any better despite all the amazing advances and inventions in modern western medicine. If you, or your loved ones, are concerned about heart attack, stroke, diabetes, high cholesterol, or you have a family history of those, then you may want to learn more about this easy and effective therapy that has been around for decades in the wellness community.

Chelation therapy was first used in the 1940s. People working in shipyards developed heavy metal poisoning from copious amounts of lead in the paints and buildings. We are all still constantly exposed to toxic heavy metals, and chief among them is lead. From automobile and industrial emissions, contaminated soils, lead-based paints, lead crystal, and waste dumps, lead finds its way into our bodies. Drug companies developed a chelating agent to remove these heavy metals from the body.

Chelation therapy is the IV administration of a synthetic amino acid known as EDTA which binds heavy metals like iron, copper, lead and calcium, which have been shown to be associated with formation of plaque in the blood vessels which causes heart attacks, strokes, and vascular disease. By chelating these heavy metals and minerals out of the body, it softens and reduces the amount of plaque throughout the body. It also lessens hardening of the arteries and makes them more elastic resulting in better circulation. EDTA mobilizes the calcium built up in the soft tissue where it should not be stored. By acting as a calcium-channel blocker, it may reduce blood pressure by 10 to 20 points and may even eventually eliminate the need for medication.

This prescription therapy is administered slowly to ensure the proper balance of nutrients and minerals and may be successfully administered with nutritional IVs. In a retrospective study by Ja-Liang Lin, MD, and colleagues from Chang Gung University in Taipei, of 19,000 people with peripheral vascular disease, 82.5 percent of those who received chelation therapy showed substantial improvement.

Bypass surgeries have been the “go to” therapy for blocked arteries, but the effects of bypass surgery are limited to only the heart function. Chelation therapy enhances the entire circulatory system by cleansing vessels and organs. The modality is currently FDA-approved for lead poisoning, but medical doctors are free to use it for other purposes. Its popularity as a cardiovascular therapy is generating a number of new studies aimed at FDA-approval for that use as well.

The most enduring myth about chelation therapy is that it damages the kidneys, but studies reported in the American Heart Journal have shown that it actually improves kidney function; diabetes also responds well to chelation therapy because the disease generally involves the arteries.

“We have been using chelation therapy safely, effectively and as an inexpensive alternative to drugs and surgery for over 20 years,” says Preventive Medicine Clinic’s Medical Director Neal Rouzier, MD.

Gunther Mueller is an associate with Preventive Medicine Centers in Palm Springs and host of the weekly Vibrant Health Gurus Radio Show on KNEW 94.3FM Radio Saturdays from 2p-3p. He can be reached at (760) 320.4292 or www.hormonedoc.com.

Sources: 1) Chelation Therapy: One of Medicine’s Best-kept Secrets? Omni Medicine Vol. 16 NO. 2 November 1993; 2) Bypassing Bypass – A non-surgical treatment for improving circulation and slowing the aging process, Elmer Cranton, MD; 3) Too Many Bypasses. Men’s Health March 1998; 4) Get the Lead Out. Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Health & Healing July 2003 Vol. 13, No; 5) American Heart Journal 2014 Jul;168(1):37-44.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2014.02.012. Epub 2014 Apr 2; 6) N Engl J Med. 2003;348:277-286, 345-347; 7) Why Is EDTA Therapy Not Widely Accepted By James P. Carter, MD, DrPH. Reprinted from the Journal of Advancement in Medicine, Volume 2, Numbers 1/2, Spring/Summer 1989, pages 213-226.; 8) http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/04/health/chelation-heart-study/index.html