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Questions and Answers About Chelation
Robert Filice, M.D
We
have discussed the nature and the surgical treatment of coronary heart
disease and arteriosclerosis in previous issues. Today I will give you a
summary of how and why the physicians at Caring Medical employ Chelation
therapy for such conditions.
Chelation therapy has a long history of use among natural medicine
physicians for clogged arteries and coronary artery disease.
Every chelating doctor has many amazing case histories that convince us
that chelation works. There is very good animal data documenting its
effectiveness, but because of the monetary constraints of performing human
studies, formal double blind reports are hard to find. The 3 hour duration
of each treatment has been a deterrent for some busy patients, but now
that we know chelation exerts its effect primarily through removal of body
heavy metal burden, some physicians, including those of us here at CMRS,
have begun using a different form of EDTA that allows for more rapid
infusion (just a few minutes up to a maximum of 30 minutes), pulls out
more heavy metals because of the increased blood concentration of EDTA
achieved with the IV push protocol, and poses no additional risk to the
kidneys beyond that from the heavy metals that are being pulled out.
This is our new Fast Chelation protocol. If you are interested in being
evaluated for treatment with either standard or fast chelation, ask your
CMRS physician for more information. The basic outline below of this
important alternative treatment completes this week's article.
WHAT
IS CHELATION?
The term chelate means to bind and remove. Chelation Therapy is an
in-office treatment where EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid), a
synthetic amino acid, is administered to a patient intravenously under the
prescription of a fully-licensed physician (an M.D. or a D.O.), in an
effort to bind with those harmful substances in the blood (metals such as
aluminum, lead, mercury, and others) which may cause chronic health
disorders and remove them. The infusion typically lasts 3-4 hours and is
done weekly for a period of weeks or months. Monthly or Bi-monthly
treatments are often done for maintenance therapy.
HOW DOES CHELATION WORK FOR HEART DISEASE?
Chelation Therapy, along with nutrition, promotes health by correcting the
major underlying cause of arterial blockage and heart disease. Damaging
oxygen free radicals are increased in the presence of such metals as iron,
lead, and aluminum, and are believed to act as a chronic irritant to blood
vessel walls and cell membranes. (EDTA) Chelation Therapy and other agents
remove the heavy metals, thus decreasing the oxidant burden on the body
and increasing its antioxidant reserves. Other risk factors for heart
disease including high homocysteine and insulin levels are also addressed.
This combined approach utilizing nutrition and Chelation Therapy has
helped many people rid themselves of angina pains and prevent further
arterial blockages.
What Other Conditions are Helped by
Nutrition and Chelation Therapy?
Nutrition and Chelation Therapy have been utilized in the following
conditions:
For the Heart: Heart disease, Vascular disease, Blockage of
arteries, Poor circulation.
For Toxicity in Your Body: Heavy metal poisoning
Other Conditions: Chronic fatigue, Poor immune function, Diabetes,
Emphysema, Cancer, Impotence, Anti-aging regimens, Chronic pain …as well
as a host of other chronic disabling conditions.
IS CHELATION SAFE?
Chelation therapy is among one of the safest medical procedures. More than
400,000 patients have received over four million treatments during the
past 30 years. Because physicians have had such vast experiences with EDTA,
the dosage of EDTA and the speed of infusions are now standardized and
taught by the American College for the Advancement in Medicine (ACAM).
EDTA is metabolized in the kidneys. For this reason, kidney function must
be monitored before and during Chelation Therapy with a periodic blood
test. Stress to the kidneys has been reported in some cases. Possible side
effects from Chelation Therapy include allergy, fatigue, headache, and
flu-like symptoms after receiving the infusion.
CAN CHELATION BE USED WITH OTHER DRUG TREATMENTS FOR ARTERY DISEASE?
Chelation Therapy, as well as nutrition, can be utilized with most other
therapies for cardiovascular disease. Medications for blood
thinning, high blood pressure, or those for the heart should be continued
while undergoing Chelation and Nutritional Therapies. The continued need
for these medications while undergoing the therapies will be assessed by
the physicians involved in your care.
HOW WILL I KNOW IF CHELATION THERAPY IS WORKING FOR ME?
The most important measure of health is how you are feeling. About every
six Chelations you will fill out a questionnaire to help document
progress. At this time a blood test will be done to monitor kidney and
liver function as well as cholesterol. A meeting with the physician will
then be done to assess whether further testing is needed or a change in
the chelation therapy program is needed.
You will also be monitored utilizing standard blood tests that show risk
factors for heart disease. These could include cholesterol/HDL ratio,
triglyceride/HDL ratio, homocysteine level, and platelet aggregation study
(blood thickness level).
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