Chelation Therapy

CHELATION THERAPY FOR HEART DISEASE

What is Chelation Therapy?

The term “Chelation” (key-lay-shun) is derived from the Greek work “chele” which means “to claw”. Chelation therapy involves administration of a chelating agent which has the ability to bind (clawing) heavy metals ions and eliminate them through the kidneys. It has been in use since the early 1900s for the treatment of heavy metal toxicity and calcium overload (hypercalcemia). It has been in use since the 1950s for the treatment of heart disease by Integrative Medicine Practitioners.

Coronary Artery Calcification:

Coronary Artery Calcification refers to the build-up of calcium in the arteries causing them to narrow. This reduces blood flow to the heart and causes symptoms of chest pain and breathlessness. This calcification can be reversed only with the help of EDTA Chelation Therapy.

The most ignored aspect of Heart Disease – Heavy Metals:

Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic have been implicated in the development of heart disease for decades. The essential metals in our body like iron and copper get substituted with these toxic metals leading to impaired cell function. Heavy metals promote inflammation, free radical damage and oxidative stress leading to Endothelial Dysfunction – the starting point of heart disease.

When the endothelium (the layer of cells lining the blood vessels and inner surface of the heart) is damaged, they lose the ability to secrete Nitric Oxide, a vasodilator. This makes the arteries stiff and prevents them from relaxing. Stiff arteries lead to increased shear stress, vessel wall injury and finally, atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in arteries).

How does Chelation work in Heart Disease:

An atherosclerotic plaque (block in the normal blood flow) develops due to the deposition of calcium, other heavy metals and cholesterol crystals in an injured area in the blood vessel. As the plaque gets bigger and bigger, the blood flow gets interrupted leading to chest pain, breathlessness and heart attack (Myocardial Infarction).

Chelation Therapy improves circulation and relieves symptoms in patients with diabetes, heart disease and hypertension by binding the calcium and other heavy metals (lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic) in the blood vessel and eliminating them. It mitigates endothelial dysfunction and restores the blood vessel’s ability to produce nitric oxide (vasodilator) resulting in improved oxygen and nutrient delivery to tissues.

  

Safety:

The crux of Chelation Therapy lies in deciding which chelating agent (NaEDTA / CaEDTA / DMSA) to administer for which patient, the dose, duration of infusions, number of infusions and how to assess treatment efficacy.

Having treated thousands of patients over the last 10 years, our doctors have considerable experience, knowledge and know-how when it comes to Chelation Therapy.

Key Points:

1. We are exposed to toxic environmental metals on a daily basis, and these foreign metal ions are    stored in bone, visceral organs, and neural tissue indefinitely.
2. These ions leach out of the body’s stores for the duration of one’s life. Epidemiological data from NHANES and the Strong Heart Study has linked increased metal levels to adverse cardiovascular events.
3. Chelation therapy makes use of chelators, molecules that bind and remove heavy metals, to decrease the physiological metal load.
4. The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), a 10 year, NIH funded randomized controlled trial, demonstrated a decrease in adverse cardiovascular events in patients treated with edetate disodium chelation therapy.