The story of EDTA chelation therapy is as much political as it is
medical. Consider these facts:
EDTA chelation may be one of the most effective, least expensive,
and safest treatments for heart disease ever developed, yet it is
practiced by perhaps only 2,000 physicians in the United States.
EDTA chelation is not typically covered by medical insurance, even
though insurance companies would save billions of dollars each year
if they did.
Although they save far more lives than conventional treatments for
heart disease and other chronic degenerative diseases at a fraction
of the cost, physicians who practice and promote EDTA chelation for
these uses have been harassed, vilified, smeared, and, in some
cases, driven from their profession by powerful medical societies
and government agencies that practice and promote conventional
medical treatments.
What Is EDTA Chelation?
EDTA chelation is a therapy by which repeated administrations of a
weak synthetic amino acid (EDTA, ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid)
gradually reduce atherosclerotic plaque and other mineral deposits
throughout the cardiovascular system by literally dissolving them
away.
EDTA chelation has frequently been compared to a "Roto-Rooter" in
the cardiovascular system, because it removes plaque and returns the
arterial system to a smooth, healthy, pre-atherosclerotic state. A
better metaphor might be "Liquid-Plumr," because, where Roto-Rooter
violently scrapes deposits off the interior surfaces of your
plumbing with a rapidly rotating blade, Liquid-Plumr simply
dissolves them away.
Roto-Rooter is a far better metaphor for conventional medical
treatments for heart disease, all of which are closely tied to the
concept of the cardiovascular system as plumbing. When a pipe/artery
gets clogged, simply ream it out or flatten the deposits
(angioplasty). If that doesn't work, just cut away the bad section(s)
and replace it (them) with a new piece of pipe (coronary artery
bypass graft, or CABG). It's the same basic strategy older cities
use for replacing their century-old water mains. And we know how
successful that is!
"Because EDTA is so effective at removing unwanted minerals and
metals from the blood, it has been the standard 'FDA-approved'
treatment for lead, mercury, aluminum and cadmium poisoning for more
than 50 years."
CABG, known affectionately in the medical profession as "cabbage,"
is the most frequently performed surgery in the United States. At up
to $50,000 per procedure, that indeed amounts to a lot of "cabbage,"
not only for cardiac surgeons but also for hospitals. As we shall
see, these figures provide a powerful incentive for physicians to
reject an effective, but inexpensive and unpatentable treatment like
EDTA chelation.
It is commonplace for physicians who regularly prescribe EDTA
chelation to encounter heart disease patients who have failed all
the standard treatments but who make remarkable - even unbelievable
- recoveries once given EDTA. Other patients, on waiting lists for
CABG surgery, found they did not need the surgery following a series
of EDTA chelation treatments.
EDTA exerts its beneficial effects on the body because this molecule
is extremely proficient at chemically bonding with mineral and metal
ions. This bonding process, known as chelation, is a natural and
essential physiologic process that goes on constantly in the body.
EDTA's chelating abilities make it ideal for many tasks:
Because EDTA is so effective at removing unwanted minerals and
metals from the blood, it has been the standard "FDA-approved"
treatment for lead, mercury, aluminum and cadmium poisoning for more
than 50 years. EDTA normalizes the distribution of most metallic
elements in the body.
Because it is so safe and effective, EDTA is also used widely as a
stabilizer for packaged food. Minute amounts of EDTA (33-800 PPM)
added to food help to preserve flavor and color and to retard
spoilage and rancidity. (Read your food labels.)
Because EDTA inhibits blood clotting so well, it is routinely added
to blood samples that are drawn for testing purposes.*
EDTA improves calcium and cholesterol metabolism by eliminating
metallic catalysts that can damage cell membranes by producing
oxygen free radicals.
Thanks to these and probably other effects of EDTA, it has been
reported to have a wide variety of benefits.
*If you followed the O.J. Simpson trial, you probably know that EDTA
was featured prominently. The defense contended that EDTA,
supposedly found in certain of "The Juice's" blood drops at the
murder scene, indicated that that blood had spent some time in a
collection tube before being "planted" by the LAPD. If there was
EDTA in Simpson's blood, though, it may well have come from the meal
he ate on the plane ride from Chicago to LA.
EDTA Chelation vs. Conventional Therapy for Vascular Disease
Researchers first started to notice EDTA in the days during and
after World War II when men who worked in battery factories or
painted ships with lead-based paint began coming down with lead
poisoning from their high exposure in these jobs. EDTA was found to
be extremely effective for removing the lead from the men's bodies,
but what really made people sit up and take notice was an apparent
reduction in symptoms of heart disease in many of these men.
The first systematic study of EDTA in people with atherosclerosis
was published in 1956.1 When the researchers gave 20 patients with
confirmed heart disease a series of 30 I.V. EDTA treatments, 19 of
the patients experienced improvement, as measured by an increase in
physical activity. Another study 4 years later in a similar
population found that 3 months of EDTA infusions resulted in
decreases in the severity and frequency of anginal episodes, reduced
use of nitroglycerin (a common anti-angina drug), increased work
capacity and improved ECG (electrocardiogram) findings.2
It soon became clear from these and later studies that EDTA
treatments result in progressive and widespread improvement and
stabilization of cardiovascular function. This is in contrast to
standard treatments, such as angioplasty or CABG, which
instantaneously restore normal function in the few treated arteries,
but leave the rest of the body completely untreated (there's every
reason to believe that if arteries are clogged in the heart, they're
also clogged in other vital organs, like the kidneys and brain).
High-tech treatments for heart disease, such as angioplasty and CABG,
long hailed as medical breakthroughs, are in fact, oversold,
overpriced, and ineffective, especially when compared with EDTA
chelation. The truth of this assertion has been demonstrated on
numerous occasions over the last 2 decades:
The average mortality for CABG surgery is 4% to 10%.3,4 In fact,
CABG has no overall effect on improving survival. According to one
study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, "As compared
with medical therapy, coronary artery bypass surgery appears neither
to prolong life nor to prevent myocardial infarction in patients who
have mild angina or who are asymptomatic after infarction in the
five-year period after coronary angiography."5 By contrast,
mortality rates for EDTA chelation, when carried out according to
accepted protocols, approaches 0%.6
Grafted coronary arteries are more than 10 times as likely to close
up again within 3 years compared with coronary arteries that are not
replaced with a graft.7 Improved blood flow following EDTA chelation
therapy is permanent as long as regular EDTA therapy (either oral or
I.V.) is maintained.
Significant cerebral dysfunction, especially in older patients, is
commonly seen following CABG.8 Because EDTA chelation restores blood
flow to the brain, it often results in improved cognition and
memory.9
Atherosclerosis is typically a body-wide disease. If your coronary
arteries are occluded, it's a safe bet that arteries in your brain,
kidneys, lungs, and other vital organs are also occluded.
Angioplasty or CABG can clean out only a few arteries supplying the
heart. Another surgical procedure, endarterectomy, is commonly used
to clear out the carotid arteries that supply the brain. When
patients who have undergone carotid endarterectomy are treated with
EDTA afterwards, the degree of subsequent restenosis (re-occlusion)
drops by 10%.10
Despite the danger and costs associated with these procedures, they
are often only temporary fixes. Restenosis of treated coronary
arteries occurs within 6 months in as many as one in three cases.11
By contrast, EDTA chelation permanently removes blood vessel
obstructions throughout the body without dangerous and expensive
surgery. How well does EDTA chelation work? Virtually every study
that has looked at the efficacy of EDTA chelation in vascular
disease has demonstrated significant improvements. Here is a brief
sampling of a few of the major results:
A 1993 meta-analysis of 19 studies of 22,765 patients receiving EDTA
chelation therapy for vascular disease found measurable improvement
in 87%.12
In a study of 2,870 patients with various degrees of degenerative
diseases, especially vascular disease, almost 90% of the patients
showed excellent improvement, as measured by walking distance, ECG,
and Doppler changes.13
A small, blinded, crossover study of patients with peripheral
vascular disease found significant improvements in walking distance
and ankle/brachial blood flow.14
In 30 patients with carotid artery stenosis, there was a 30%
improvement in blood flow after EDTA treatment.15
Using retinal photographs in patients with macular degeneration, one
researcher demonstrated significant improvement following EDTA
treatment.16
EDTA chelation treatment was evaluated in patients with carotid and
coronary disease using technetium 99 isotope techniques. Significant
improvement in arterial blood flow and ejection fraction (a measure
of heart pumping ability) was reported.17,18
When 65 patients on the waiting list for CABG surgery for a mean of
6 months were treated with EDTA chelation therapy, the symptoms in
89% (58) improved so much they were able to cancel their surgery. In
the same study, of 27 patients recommended for limb amputation due
to poor peripheral circulation, EDTA chelation resulted in saving 24
limbs.19
Negative Results?
Of course there have been a few studies that did not (at first) seem
to support the efficacy of EDTA chelation therapy. The most
prominent apparently well-controlled studies have been two Danish
trials 20,21 and a New Zealand trial,22 all of which reported no
apparent benefits. A close analysis of these studies, however,
revealed problems with both the controls and the interpretation of
the data.
"Because EDTA chelation restores blood flow to the brain, it often
results in improved cognition and memory."
As noted by Chappell and Janson,6 the standard EDTA chelation
treatment protocol was not followed in these trials. They all
included primarily smokers (notoriously poor responders) with severe
vascular disease who received only 20 I.V. treatments. With such
patients, 30 to 40 treatments are normally required before a
significant effect is typically seen. Although the New Zealand trial
was supposedly placebo-controlled, the "placebo" used actually had
chelating properties of its own. Thus, the fact that the differences
from "placebo" were small is meaningless.
When the raw data from the New Zealand study were examined, it was
found that 26% of the EDTA-treated patients compared with only 12%
of the "placebo" controls achieved an improvement of greater than
100% in walking distance; among nonsmokers or smokers who had quit,
66% of the EDTA-treated group increased their walking distance an
average of 86% compared with 45% of the controls, who improved by
just 56%. Reduced blood flow, as measured by the ankle/brachial
index, was found in 6% of the EDTA-treated patients and 35% of the
controls. Although the authors of these studies reached negative
conclusions, in fact, their data actually supported the use of EDTA
chelation.
How Safe Is EDTA Chelation?
EDTA, is a safe, nontoxic substance. The LD50 (so called when the
dose will kill 50% of experimental animals) for EDTA is 2000 mg/kg
body weight, which makes it about 3.5 times less toxic than aspirin.
Although the FDA refuses to approve it for treating vascular
disease, EDTA chelation has been the approved treatment for lead or
other heavy metal poisoning for 50 years. When administered
according to the treatment protocol developed by the American
College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), I.V. chelation is more
than 300 times safer than CABG surgery. Most side effects of
treatment involve minor discomfort (eg, nausea, dizziness, headache)
that resolves quickly.
The greatest risks occur when an infusion is given too rapidly or in
too large a dose. These risks virtually vanish when EDTA is
administered by a properly trained physician who follows the ACAM
protocol. To the extent that oral EDTA is a completely noninvasive
therapy, it is even safer than I.V. EDTA.
I.V. or Oral EDTA?
Most chelation therapy carried out today involves I.V.
administration of EDTA, however, oral EDTA, which has a history at
least as long as its I.V. cousin, is an option that is only now
starting to be appreciated. Clinical experience suggests that oral
chelation provides some, but not all, of the benefits of I.V.
therapy. Overall, the difference in benefits is more one of degree
and speed than of quality.
I.V. therapy has a direct and powerful effect on the body almost
instantaneously. An I.V. session usually lasts about 3 to 4 hours,
during which about 1500 mg to 3000 mg of EDTA (plus vitamin C and
other nutrients) are administered. The number of treatments
necessary (generally about 20-50 sessions) depends on the
individual's condition. Candidates for I.V. chelation are people
that have been diagnosed with serious atherosclerosis, heavy metal
poisoning, or symptoms of vascular occlusion or significant
calcification of tissues. Only about 3% to 8% of an oral dose of
EDTA is absorbed, compared with 100% of an I.V. dose. Therefore, the
time and dosage required to achieve the same benefits with the oral
form are quite different. What can be achieved in only a few hours
with I.V. EDTA chelation may take several weeks or months with oral
EDTA chelation. However, oral EDTA may be appropriate for people
whose condition does not demand rapid action. For example, oral
chelation can be used to:
avoid complications and diseases that result from heavy metals and
calcification
prevent the formation of blood clots, thus reducing your chance of a
heart attack or stroke
lower the level of blood cholesterol
help thin the blood
aid in reducing lipid peroxidation, a major cause of atherosclerosis
protect the body against certain carcinogens, pathogens and other
toxins that can reduce the quality of health
Oral EDTA is not meant to replace I.V. therapy for those people who
have serious vascular disease. It is very useful, though, for people
who have completed an I.V. course and want to stay on a maintenance
program, for people who "for whatever reason" are unable or
unwilling to undergo I.V. chelation, and for those whose I.V.
treatments may have been interrupted.
The Politics of EDTA Chelation
Organizations like the American Heart Association and the American
Medical Association, which condemn EDTA chelation as ineffective for
treating vascular disease, often quote the Danish and New Zealand
studies, mentioned earlier, to support their position.20-22 What
they fail to mention is that the Danish studies were criticized by
the Danish Committee for Investigation into Scientific Dishonesty
because of improper randomization and double-blinding, as well as
premature breaking of the blinding code, which amounted to a
deliberate bias. When the results of the New Zealand study were
examined by two independent statisticians, it was concluded that the
trial actually supported the efficacy of EDTA.23
"Virtually every study that has looked at the efficacy of EDTA
chelation in vascular disease has demonstrated significant
improvements."
It is unlikely that any other issue in modern medicine has been more
highly politicized than that of EDTA chelation therapy, and it is
clear that most of the opposition to EDTA is due to the threat this
therapy represents, not to patients' health but to the bank balances
of orthodox physicians, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals.
Treating cardiovascular diseases is big business in the United
States (and the rest of the Western world), bringing in tens of
billions of dollars each year.
As Garry Gordon, MD, DO, the "Father of Chelation Therapy" has
pointed out, "Every time a surgeon does a heart bypass, he takes
home a luxury sports car." Each CABG procedure costs between $25,000
and $50,000; each angioplasty costs about $15,000; drugs for
reducing cholesterol, lowering high blood pressure, and normalizing
heart rhythm bring the pharmaceutical industry hundreds of millions
of dollars each year. And these are just the most common examples.
What happens when you add EDTA chelation therapy to this mix?
A course of I.V. EDTA chelation therapy costs between $2000 and
$4000; oral EDTA is even less costly. To the degree that these
therapies reduce the need for the more expensive conventional
therapies - a large degree, indeed - they threaten to diminish the
income of a significant portion of the medical establishment.
Consider this one example: As noted earlier, in a study of 65
patients who were treated with I.V. EDTA while they were waiting for
CABG surgery, 58 (89%) no longer required the procedure.19 At
$50,000 per procedure not done, that means that surgeons and
hospitals gave up nearly $3 million just for these few patients. Now
remember, that CABG is the most common surgical procedure performed
in the US (368,000 in 1989).24
Given these figures, it's not hard to understand why the medical
profession is so in love with CABG and related procedures. As one
physician noted, "It pays the bills." So enamored are they of these
procedures that they perform them even when they are not necessary.
In an article published in no less prestigious a publication than
the Journal of the American Medical Association, the authors
concluded that only 56% of the surgeries performed were for
appropriate reasons, 30% for equivocal reasons, and 14% for
inappropriate reasons. The percentage of appropriate surgeries
varied from 37% in some hospitals to 78% in others.25 When you
consider that even when it is "appropriate," CABG surgery is no
better than conventional medical treatments for improving survival,5
you have to wonder whether the real "miracle" of heart surgery does
not entail bringing people back from death's door, as much as
turning a common chronic degenerative disease into a source of
outrageous fortune. If you needed one example of why the cost of
health care has gone into earth orbit, you need look no further than
the conventional treatment of heart disease.
"If you needed one example of why the cost of health care has gone
into earth orbit, you need look no further than the conventional
treatment of heart disease."
Given these figures, it's also not very hard to understand why the
medical profession has reacted so violently against physicians who
practice chelation therapy, often attempting, in the words of that
great seeker of medical truth (that's a joke folks), Dr. Victor
Herbert, "to put them out of business." Because EDTA has long been
approved for treating heavy metal poisoning, and because physicians
are free to use any "approved" medication for any use they see fit,
as long it does not endanger the patient, EDTA chelation therapy is
perfectly legal. This has not stopped medical boards in a number of
states from bringing charges against physicians who prescribe EDTA
chelation for vascular disease, smearing them as "quacks," and
attempting to restrict the use of this therapy. Fortunately, most of
these attempts have failed.23
You can be certain that if EDTA had a large pharmaceutical company
advocating its use, these problems would quickly evaporate. But
since the patent for EDTA ran out nearly 30 years ago, there are no
huge profits to be made from marketing it. With no pot of gold at
the end of the EDTA rainbow, no one is going to put up the hundreds
of millions of dollars required to do the randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled clinical trials required to get the FDA to
approve EDTA for vascular disease. And with few large, randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials to refer to, the
conventional medical establishment feels justified in condemning
EDTA therapy as "unproven." It's a familiar "Catch 22" that faces
all natural or unpatentable therapies.
Conclusion
While most American physicians choose to remain blind to the
benefits of EDTA, those who prescribe it are free to witness its
life-enhancing benefits on a daily basis. One of those physicians is
Dr. Garry Gordon, whose own life was saved by EDTA and who has been
a leader in chelation therapy since the early 1960s. "I have taken
on patients who were inoperable, who had already had every known
form of bypass surgery, who had no more veins in their legs to strip
out and put into their heart, and who were sent home to die, and I
could get those people back to full functioning," says Dr. Gordon.
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