EDTA refers to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, used in FDA-approved chelation therapy via repeated intravenous injections to treat lead poisoning by pulling the heavy metal from the bloodstream. Although it's been investigated for other medical uses, EDTA has a host of serious and potentially life-threatening side effects, which means you should only use it under carefully controlled circumstances.
Allergies
The most common side effect of EDTA therapy is a localized burning sensation at the injection site, which may further result in dermatitis or generalized eczema. It's also possible you may experience a less frequent, but more severe systemic allergic reaction to EDTA that can cause you to stop breathing.
Bone Marrow
Some patients undergoing EDTA chelation have experienced bone marrow depression, a serious condition where the bone marrow is unable to produce normal amounts of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, according to the American Heart Association. It's yet another reason you should be under the care of a licensed physician while undergoing EDTA treatments.
Bleeding
A few cases of decreased blood clotting ability with abnormal bleeding have been reported with EDTA treatments. It's even been reported in horses, pigs and dogs who suffered thrombocytopenia, or a deficiency of platelets which help the blood to clot normally, as reported in a 2008 issue of the "Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association." In other cases, however, you may experience the opposite effect, with extensive platelet clumping in the blood, particularly if you have atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases.
Hypocalcaemia
Chelating agents increase excretion of other beneficial heavy metals and minerals besides lead, including zinc and sometimes even calcium from your blood. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths have been reported due to hypocalcaemia, or low levels of calcium, from intravenous chelation therapy, where it induced cardiac arrest.
Insulin Shock
Your blood glucose levels may drop during EDTA infusion, leading to insulin shock, a scenario much more likely if you're diabetic. If you're a diabetics taking zinc-bound insulin, you're at risk for a too-rapid release of insulin, leading to hypoglycemia and shock.
Kidney Damage
Another potentially serious side effect of EDTA chelation is kidney damage, which is affected by the dose, rate of infusion, your kidney function and your body's burden of toxic heavy metals. This used to be more common when chelation therapy was first used in patients several days a week at higher doses, although the American Heart Association still considers chelation therapy to include a real danger of renal tubular necrosis, reporting that some people are currently on dialysis because of kidney failure caused in part by chelation therapy.
Member Comments