Chelation therapy was developed during the 1950s as a way to cleanse the blood and blood vessel walls after lead or mercury poisoning. Today, chelation practitioners recommend this therapy to treat atherosclerosis, heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes, and many other health problems. However, most conventional medical authorities today reject the claims for chelation's efficacy, and warn of a number of dangers of its use.
What is Chelation Therapy?
Chelation therapy involves the intravenous administration of a man-made amino acid, EDTA, or ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, to remove toxic substances from the body. It is most often used to remove poisonous heavy metals such as lead or mercury. EDTA combines with toxic substances, forming a compound that can be excreted in the urine. It also combines with calcium, a constituent of atherosclerotic plaque, leading to theory that EDTA could bind with and remove calcium deposits from arterial plaque, thus curing atherosclerosis. However, there is a lack of evidence to support this theory.
Claims Made for the Efficacy of Chelation Therapy
Support for chelation therapy is based on the testimonies of people who have undergone the procedure. Many of these people claim that chelation saved their life, greatly improving blood flow through previously narrowed blood vessels, relieving pain, and restoring lost bodily functions. Dr. Edward W. McDonagh, an osteopath who operates several chelation clinics, told the New York Times that "chelation therapy has cured or controlled ailments in thousands of Americans, ranging from heart disease to arthritis to poor eyesight." However, the American Heart Association has found no scientific evidence to demonstrate any benefit from this form of therapy.
Potential Dangers of Chelation Therapy
Dr. John H. Renner, a family physician, claims chelation therapy is dangerous because it causes people to delay seeking conventional treatments. According to Aetna InteliHealth, chelation may cause many severe side effects. There is a real danger of kidney failure. EDTA can also reduce the body's ability to make new blood cells in the bone marrow. Chelation can result in shock, low blood pressure, convulsions, disturbances of regular heart rhythm, allergic reactions, dangerously low calcium levels in the blood, and respiratory arrest. A number of deaths in the United States have been linked with chelation therapy, possibly due to loss of calcium.
Alternative Explanations for Improvement
The American Heart Association admits that some people do feel better after chelation therapy, but for other reasons. Chelation patients are required to make lifestyle changes while they're undergoing therapy. They are required to quit smoking, lose weight, eat more fruits and vegetables, avoid saturated fats, and exercise regularly. The AHA believes these patients feel better because of healthy lifestyle changes rather than the effects of chelation therapy. As an alternative explanation, the Harvard Medical School Health Letter claims the therapy works as an elaborate placebo.
The Views of Conventional Medicine
Most major medical groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association, have rejected chelation as worthless. The Food and Drug Administration warns that it may be dangerous, and Medicare has refused to reimburse patients for its cost, which can run as high as $6,000 for a course of treatment extending over several months.
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