Chelation therapy to treat heart disease…
Chelation therapy is an alternative medical therapy for flushing out heavy metals like iron, lead, cadmium, mercury from the body using a chelating agent. This involves intravenously injecting a chelating agent EDTA whose full chemical name is Ethylene Diamine Tetra Acetic Acid. This chelating agent binds with heavy metal ions in the body, which then are flushed out through urine.
Some medical practitioners use chelation therapy to treat coronary heart disease, even though scientific evidence is lacking. The practitioners believe that the heart disease is cured by chelation therapy as a result of following factors: (a) EDTA binds to Calcium in artery blockages, thereby breaking up blockages and/or (b) EDTA binds to free iron thereby reducing generation of free radicals which cause inflammation and damage to arteries.
How is chelation therapy carried out?
The patient is asked to relax on a chair or on a bed and thereafter, EDTA is infused through a vein. A controlled dose of EDTA (based on the person's health status) is released into the blood stream over 3 to 4 hours. Such sessions are carried out once or twice a week and a total of 25 to 50 infusions may be needed, depending on the individual profile of the patient. During the chelation session the patient can read, watch TV and carry on with any sedentary activity.