Chelation Therapy Information for Patients
What is Chelation Therapy?
Chelation (pronounced KEY-LAY-SHUN) is the process by which a metal or mineral (such as calcium, lead, cadmium, iron, arsenic, aluminum, etc.) is bound by another substance. Chelation therapy is the process of using synthetic amino acids for the purpose of removing heavy metals from the body or for improving circulation by removing harmful calcium. Certain synthetic amino acids have a high binding affinity to minerals and metals which allow them to pull heavy metals out of the tissues of the body. Since they are synthetic, the body cannot use them and they are excreted from the body along with whatever metal they are bound to. Chelation is ideally done through intravenous administration. This is the most effective way to remove heavy metals from the tissues of the body and to avoid stomach upset and possible intoxication by heavy metals moving from the gastrointestinal system into circulation which can occur with oral chelation.
Types of Chelation
EDTA is the most common type of chelation therapy and is a treatment by which a small amino acid called ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (commonly abbreviated EDTA) is slowly administered to a patient intravenously over 2-3 hours. The EDTA solution is infused through a small needle placed in the vein of a patient's arm. The EDTA binds with unwanted metals in the body and quickly carries them away in the urine. EDTA is not only a specific binding agent for Lead, but is also an excellent chelating agent for many toxic metals such as Cadmium, Arsenic, Mercury, Aluminum, Antimony, Beryllium, Bismuth, Nickel, Platinum, Thallium, Tin, Tungsten, and Uranium.
DMPS (dimercaptopropane-(1)-sulfonate) is another type of chelation therapy that is used mostly for mercury burden in the body. The DMPS solution is delivered intravenously with a small needle in the arm over a period of 15-20 minutes.
Oral Chelation is also available for patients unable to receive intravenous treatments (i.e. children, obese patients with deep veins, patients unable to sit for prolonged periods of time, etc.). Although oral chelation is more convenient, intravenous chelation still remains the ideal route of administration since oral chelators are poorly absorbed in the gut. If you are unable to receive intravenous treatments, talk to your naturopathic doctor for oral chelation options.
Who is it for?
Because the very aging process itself correlates with ongoing free radical damage, it is no surprise that a large variety of symptoms have been reported to improve following chelation therapy, even symptoms not directly caused by circulatory disease. While there is no scientific evidence that chelation is a cure for these diseases, symptoms of Arthritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Psoriasis, High Blood Pressure, and Scleroderma have all been reported to improve with chelation therapy. In fact, there is no better treatment for Scleroderma. Vision has been restored in Macular Degeneration. Patients generally feel younger and more energetic following therapy, even when taken for purely preventive reasons.
Just as the use of EDTA in treating Lead Poisoning revealed its ability to remove unwanted calcium, so has it shown additional benefits when circulatory conditions were improved with EDTA treatments. Many patients with Osteoarthritis and similar joint problems reported relief of symptoms and an improved range of movement in previously restricted joints. It seems that obstructive calcium deposits in these areas were also being removed during chelation treatment.
Other unexpected benefits which chelation therapy produced in many patients include a reduction in the amount of insulin which diabetics require to maintain a stable condition, as well as marked improvements in many patients with kidney dysfunction. More surprisingly, perhaps, a great deal of functional improvement in patients with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease is sometimes seen. Just how chelation could help in these states is not clear, apart from the unpredictable benefits of circulatory enhancement, and it may be that patients who appear to find relief from the symptoms of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases might have had a faulty diagnosis, despite displaying all the classical signs associated with them.
New York studies on Hyperactive children, using EDTA, have shown remarkable benefits, thought to relate to the removal of lead which may have accumulated in greater quantities in some of these children, due to their relative deficiency of major protective nutrients such as zinc and vitamin C, not uncommonly observed in such children. Although chelation therapy for prevention and treatment of degenerative circulatory diseases is practiced by hundreds of medical doctors in the USA and Europe, it remains controversial, inasmuch as it is misunderstood, its use being grossly underinvestigated by mainstream medicine except in treating a narrow range of conditions such as lead and other heavy metal toxicity or acute hypercalcaemia (increased calcium levels in the blood). Ironically, it was the medical use of chelation therapy in removing toxic metals which first led to the discovery of its hugely beneficial 'side-effects' of dramatically enhanced circulatory function.
While the majority of chelation done is the EDTA form, DMPS is also used for heavy metal toxicity. DMPS is specific for mercury and used in conjunction with mercury amalgam removal to reduce the amount of mercury exposure. Contrary to accepted dental practice, mercury amalgams are harmful to the body and represent the highest amount of heavy metal exposure to the average individual. Talk with your naturopathic doctor to see if DMPS chelation is appropriate for you.
Is Chelation Safe?
Chelation therapy is administered under the supervision of a licensed naturopathic physician who is certified in chelation and intravenous therapies. Certification in this therapy includes training on how to handle any situation and demands that practitioners in this therapy are equipped with first aid and emergency supplies.
Chelation therapy is a safe and effective alternative to bypass surgery or angioplasty and stents. Hardening of the arteries need not lead to coronary bypass surgery, heart attack, amputation, stroke, or senility. In fact, some European countries will recommend chelation therapy for patients on bypass waiting lists and will find on re-evaluation before surgery that bypass is no longer necessary. Despite what you may have heard from other sources, EDTA chelation therapy, administered by a properly trained physician in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle, diet, and nutritional supplements, is an option to be seriously considered by persons suffering from coronary artery disease, cerebral vascular disease, brain disorders resulting from circulatory disturbances, generalized atherosclerosis and related ailments which can lead to senility, gangrene, and accelerated physical decline.
EDTA chelation therapy is relatively non-toxic and risk-free, especially when compared with other treatments. Patients routinely drive themselves home after chelation treatment with no difficulty. The risk of significant side effects, when properly administered, is less than 1 in 10,000 patients treated. By comparison, the overall death rate as a direct result of bypass surgery is approximately 3 out of every 100 patients, varying with the hospital and the operating team. The incidence of other serious complications following surgery is much higher, approaching 35%, including heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, mental impairment, infection, and prolonged pain. Chelation therapy is at least 300 times safer than bypass surgery.
Occasionally, patients may suffer minor discomfort at the site where the needle enters the vein. Some temporarily experience mild nausea, dizziness, or headache as an immediate aftermath of treatment, but in the vast majority of cases, these minor symptoms are easily relieved. When properly administered by a physician expert in this type of therapy, chelation is safer than many other prescription medicines. Statistically speaking, the treatment itself is safer than the drive in an automobile to the doctor's office.
If EDTA chelation therapy is given too rapidly or in too large a dose it may cause harmful side effects, just as an overdose of any other medicine can be dangerous. Reports of serious and even rare fatal complications many years ago stemmed from excessive doses of EDTA, administered too rapidly and without proper laboratory monitoring.
DMPS chelation has been associated with headaches and fatigue which may be explained by the mobilization of mercury. This temporary recirculation can mimic an episode of acute mercury poisoning if significant amounts are chelated from the tissues similar to the fatigue and headaches that patients experience after having mercury amalgams removed. DMPS chelation has relatively few adverse reactions when used cautiously and since 1978 in North America there have been no deaths attributed to DMPS chelation.
How about Bone Density?
There is a compensatory mechanism in our body that takes care of re-distribution of the calcium. Bone is not a static tissue. There is a constant breaking down of old bone and building up of a new bone (remodeling of the bone). When EDTA lowers calcium levels in the blood Parathyroid hormone (which is responsible for breaking down old bone) is stimulated making sure that there is enough calcium in the blood stream. At the same time the bone building hormone (Calcitonin) is released at a slower and prolonged rate. Because of the pulsed stimulation of the parathyroid gland during EDTA chelation therapy, the net effect over time is an increase in bone formation at the same time that harmful calcium is mobilized from the tissues.
What is Involved?
Before beginning chelation therapy, a naturopathic physician will evaluate your case by taking a complete medical history, reviewing all medications and supplements, performing a physical exam, and ensuring that certain blood tests are done. Once these prerequisites are completed and you are a candidate for chelation thearpy, you may book an initial chelation treatment.
On your first chelation treatment you will also be asked for a urine sample to assess for general kidney function (dipstick urinalysis) and after your treatment has been administered, you may be asked to collect another urine sample for 24 hours. This second sample will be analyzed for heavy metal content. At the beginning of every EDTA chelation treatment your vitals (ie. Weight, temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate) will be taken.
With EDTA chelation, a one hour intravenous vitamin-mineral replacement is given after every five EDTA treatments to avoid depleting essential minerals. A dipstick urinalysis is also done during the intravenous vitamin-mineral replacement visits to check basic kidney function.
After every 10 EDTA treatments blood work will be done to evaluate kidney function along with any blood test that was previously abnormal and a heavy metals test to monitor progress.
EDTA chelation can be administered as often as 1-3 times per week initially and once the goal of heavy metal elimination is reached or cardiovascular improvement in noted, patients will drop down to a maintenance schedule of once a month to four times a year depending on the advice of your naturopathic doctor. For cardiovascular benefit, patients will usually require a course of 30 treatment sessions, however more advanced cases may be ongoing.
With DMPS chelation you will also be asked for a urine sample to assess for general kidney function (dipstick urinalysis) and after your treatment has been administered, you will be asked to collect another urine sample for 24 hours. Again, this second sample will be analyzed for heavy metal content. At the beginning of every DMPS chelation treatment a dipstick urinalysis will be performed and your vitals (ie. Weight, temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate) will be taken.
With DMPS chelation, treatments are given every 3-6 weeks based on the health of the patient. The first three treatments are given at half the regularly prescribed dose; if the DMPS is tolerated well, full doses can be given from that point onwards. Every fifth treatment blood work will be done to evaluate kidney function along with any blood test that was previously abnormal and a heavy metals test to monitor progress. A maintenance schedule of two to four times a year may be recommended depending on the advice of your naturopathic doctor.