Chelation Therapy: Health Benefits
Description
This article is from the Alternative Medicine Therapies guide.
Chelation Therapy: Health Benefits
Although chelation therapy has long been an FDA-approved and widely accepted treatment for heavy-metal poisoning, most conventional physicians believe that current research in humans does not support its use for any other illnesses, including heart and vascular disease. Indeed, mainstream doctors suggest that EDTA cannot pass through cell membranes to reach calcium deposits, and even if it could, the amount of calcium it could "bind" with is negligible.
Proponents of chelation point out that other factors affecting heart and vascular problems are at work too, including the positive effect of the beneficial anitioxidant vitamins and minerals given as part of the therapy. In addition, many heart patients receiving chelation therapy are often advised to stop smoking, adopt a low-fat diet, get more exercise, and reduce stress--all of which have proven heart benefits.
In 1993, a comprehensive review of all the studies done on chelation therapy over the preceding 37 years found that few studies, either "pro" or "con," had been rigorously controlled. Although some of the trials showed a temporary improvement of angina, reductions in death rates were not convincingly demonstrated.
Today, the American College of Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) in Laguna Hills, California, and the American Board of Chelation Therapy in Chicago, Illinois, the two key certifying organizations in the field, are working with the FDA on studies to establish the safety of EDTA for arteriosclerotic diseases.
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