One of the alternative medicine approaches to health is related to the notion that the increasing influence of pollution by toxic  metals is real.  Because metals increase oxidative stress, metals that include the most toxic to the human species are introduced routinely as we go about the act of living.  Many people think lead is the most threatening concern of metals.  Actually cadmium is the most toxic element to man, then mercury, then lead.  Other metals include aluminum, arsenic, tin, nickel, and antimony.  Chelation is a therapy and in this discussion, administered by IV therapy

Chelation, especially EDTA chelation, removes more than just  metal toxins.  It removes important minerals and micro-nutrients as well which need to be replaced.  Many times, because of heavy metal burden and inadequate digestion, many patients already experience the consequences of low-level minerals.  On the bright side, as the metals are removed, mineral absorption is improved as is fatigue and other obvious and vague symptoms.

Minerals, like vitamins, are co-factors that activate enzymes.  Thus they have tremendous influence in energy levels, how clear thought processes are, and the ability to deal with stress, to name a few.  Of course, there are many others.  Therefore, guidelines are necessary to enhance the experience of chelation.  While some doctors require a vitamin-mineral IV after every chelation, it may not be necessary.  Others assess the patient for increased fatigue, glucose metabolism, support of nutrition with an optimal diet and a schedule of oral daily replacement of vitamins and minerals. Consider the following:

Meet Dietary Goals

• Exercise is emphasized from moderate to tolerance. Start off slow.
• Drink 6-8 glasses filtered water, or herb decaffeinated teas. If you use caffeine, the rule is for every cup of caffeinated drink, drink two more cups of water. Avoid soda pop regardless of caffeine status.
• Eat plenty of whole foods: vegetable proteins, complex carbohydrates, good dietary fats, quality protein, and no processed food or sugar.
• Good dietary fats are distilled fish oils, unrefined olive oil, and canola oil. Avoid those oils high is saturated fat such as lard, vegetable shortening, and margarine. Butter is preferred over margarine but should be limited.

If you are ill with an acute infection, chelation should not take place until you are well on the way to recovery..

• Guidelines for the DAY OF CHELATION THERAPY
• Do not consume any calcium supplements when using EDTA Na.
• Do not eat any dairy or sugar products.
• Do not consume coffee, black tea, alcohol, or soda pop.
• Do not eat high-fat, fried foods, or processed meats.
• Do not drink alcohol before chelation.
• EAT a meal within a few hours before each chelation treatment. Include enough complex carbohydrates in this meal to help stabilize your blood sugar levels. The chelation we use is CaEDTA requires only a few minutes to administer.
• Diabetic patients or those who have low blood should have a substancial snack available or a sandwich, for example, if EDTA IV is to be administered. All other patients must have a snack that includes nuts, seeds, and fruit.
• The use of all forms of nicotine and caffeine will probably interfere with the success of your treatment, impede improvement or result in re-occurrence of symptoms.
• Medications already in use before treatment should be evaluated by the doctor
• As a rule, patients will need to remain on the prescribed nutritional supplements during the chelation series.

Typical Foods to Eat

Vegetables: all kinds if fresh or frozen, raw or cooked (like broccoli, carrots, celery, corn, mushrooms, parsley, spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, cauliflower, kale, onions, garlic, squash, peas, beets, and potatoes (including the skin)

Whole grains: brown rice, rolled oats (oatmeal), oat bran, millet, hulled barley, popcorn, whole corn grits, whole cornmeal, whole wheat flour, and unsweetened 100% whole grain bread and crackers

Beans: dried beans and peas (like pintos, navy beans, split peas, lentils, and black beans), tofu, and tempeh

Nuts and seeds: natural peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, tahini, raw or plain roasted nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds – unsalted only

Beverages: filtered water (preferred), peppermint tea, camomile tea, ginger tea

Meat, fish, poultry: unbreaded fish, canned tuna in spring water, unbreaded and skinned chicken, fresh turkey, and lean beef

Dairy products: plain, nonfat or low-fat yogurt, skim milk, low-fat milk, or nonfat dry milk,  natural cheeses (like low-fat Swiss, low-fat Provalone, and Mozzarella), –  AVOID ON THE DAY OF CHELATION.

Fruit: all whole fruit if fresh or frozen without sugar

Eggs: farm eggs – no problem with cholesterol if not eating sweets

Fats: unrefined oils and butter

Condiments and seasonings: fresh and dried herbs and spices, apple cider vinegar, mineral or limited use of sea salt, unsweetened canned tomato products, carob powder, and baking yeast and baking soda for leavening.

Today’s Quote: “There are no such things as incurable, there are only things for which man has not found a cure.”  Bernard Baruch

 Heavy metal burden is the unintended consequence of industry worldwide dating back to the Industrial Revolution in the 1700′s.  The economy that was created unquestionably changed the world…and it is still changing our world today.  The cost of healthcare continues to rise and some believe that the collection of heavy metal entities in the body contributes to acute and chronic disease, primary introduced into the body by oral or inhalation means.  Cadmium is the most toxic element to man, then lead, then mercury.   Toxins that are manmade chemicals contribute as well.  Little is considered as people wash with scrubs or work with unprotected hands in harsh chemicals.

The economy of healthcare is found in the treatment of disease.  While an enormous amount of money annually goes to research, the title of drugs is at the top of the lists.  One thing for sure, there is a drug for almost everything.  Illness is sometimes considered a synonym for disease or sometimes viewed as the subjective perception of the patient or an objectively defined disease.  If the objectively defined disease is illusive, then the problem exists only in the mind of the patient. Or does it?

Environmental doctors and those interested in prevention of disease take a different look at the disease model. First, they consider the patient might be right!  Their symptoms might actually be an underlying cause even thought the cause may be illusive and unrelated to emotional or mental illness.   You don’t have to be a doctor or struck with illness to share wisdom.  It is easier and less expensive to prevent disease than to treat it.

The alternative doctor looks at the body and sees it wondrously made. Food and nourishment is required to fuel and maintain the machine.  The cleaner sources the food comes from, and the more nutritious the source, the better.   If the body is unable to function properly because of enzyme and nutritional deficiencies, should you add a drug to make the process happen or inhibit another process to provide an artificial balance?  In alternative medicine, the practitioner strives to restore the balance.  Removing a toxin is preferred to adding a drug and reasonable nutritional support including a healthy diet.

One area of alternative medicine many patients have benefited is detoxification programs including those specifically designed to remove xenobiotics (manmade chemicals including plastics and pesticides) and chelation for heavy metal burden.  A healthy BMI (body mass index) is important because toxins store in fat.  If your attitude reflects little dedication for long term effects of healthy living, then you need read no further.  If you understand investing in your health has long term rewards, then you should consult a trained practitioner in chelation to get the best care.

For example, some professionals use blood tests but results reflect recent exposures and typically not chronic exposures. Others use hair analysis which typically reflect chronic exposure but not body stores of toxic metals.  Fecal tests can be influenced by dietary and metabolic factors.  Challenge tests may fail to produce an expected response in glutathione deficient patients, provide the best results for elevated and very elevated levels.  The challenge test, with the preferred chelator,  is the preferred test.  Often multiple toxic metals are present and increase the duration of the chelation process.  Each additional toxic metal lowers the toxic threshold for every other metal resulting over time in dysfunction of multiple organs and tissues, impaired chemical detoxification, excessive free-radical formation, and chronic conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.  Also, increased oxidative stress, related to elevated heavy metals may precondition you for heart disease.

The impact of how heavy metal burden affects a person depends on their sensitivity. Type O blood patients seem to provide few symptoms and these are the patients who take the least care of themselves because they “feel fine”.  “Feeling fine” does not necessarily reflect the truth which is why health checkups are important.  Areas of concern may be when you see elevations of cholesterol, dysfunction of blood sugar, mental confusion and fatigue.  For example, trace mineral depletion is caused by disruption of transport by heavy metals competing for receptor sites on transport proteins and metallothioneins and by binding sulhydryl groups on many enzymes.  This process may be so gradual, you may fail to recognize the onset of persistent fatigue, decreased mental acuity, or increased issues with metabolism, yet your doctor may not know how to test for these or why they might be important.  In contrast, the type A blood patient is very sensitive and notes many more symptoms because they tend to be more sensitive to their environment.

EDTA is often used for “off label” purposes for reduction of heavy metal burden which is believed to cause free radical activity.  In alternative medicine, this activity is believed to cause injury to the cardiovascular system and contributes to arteriosclerosis.  While it cannot be claimed that EDTA improves arteriosclerosis, it is believed to increase peripheral circulation thereby improving the condition.

Edetate  Calcium Disodium is approved to treat severe lead poisoning by the FDA.  The FDA is not considering removing it from the market since it is a medically necessary drug with very few other options available to treat lead toxicity.  It can safely be administered rapidly by an IV push.  Patients with a serum level over 55 mcg/dl and symptomatic should not be given mobilization test.  See position paper reference below.

The cause of patient injury comes from an administration error regarding Edetate Disodium.  This product is mixed in an IV along with magnesium and administered over a three to four hour period.  When administered too rapidly, it lowers the calcium level reducing contractions of the heart. 

Everything about this situation is unfortunate.  Proper training is essential in eliminating these errors.  Products, if stored in the same facility should be marked and stored in separate areas. 

Legal Status of EDTA Chelation Therapy  -  See www.acam.org   for position paper from American College for Advancement in Medicine on EDTA Chelation Therapy (16 pages)

Included in the paper are the following:

Introduction-’ACAM was founded in 1973 as a non-profit corporation comprised of approximately 750 licensed physicians many who were interested in and used innovative therapies for ocular vascular disease, degenerative disease and cardiovascular disease.’

Therapeutic History of Chelation Therapy- ‘In simplest of terms EDTA is a man-made amino acid widely recognized as effective for emergency use for hypercalcimia, control of ventricular arrhythmias associated with digitalis toxicity.  Due to research at the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council in the late 1960′s EDTA was indicated for possible consideration in the treatment of occlusive vascular disorders caused by arteriosclerosis….’  Many studies published and referred to in article.

Physician Use of Innovative Therapies- discussion regarding the use of EDTA and addressing concerns thereof and the rights and ethical duty of doctors with the highest regard to public safety.

 Restriction to FDA package Insert Guidelines in Inappropriate-  regarding off label use of EDTA

 Constitutional Considerations in Restricting Choice in Medical Treatment- evolution of patient participation in decision making regarding treatment

 First Amendment Protection of Commercial Speech-  entitlement to First Amendment protection

 Conclusion-Under common law, the state may not deny any individual the right to medical care and access.

 What is DMPS?  It is a chelator named Dimercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid that binds to specific metals such as mercury, lead and arsenic and forms stable complexes allowing them to be eliminated by the body.  It may be administered by prescription only.  It is used world wide for mercury poisoning by doctors and hospitals.  Additionally, a group of doctors who practice alternative medicine administer the substance to reduce heavy metal burden in patients who suffer from chronic illness.  It may be taken by IV or oral forms, however oral forms are usually reserved for children.  More recently the transdermal form was introduced.  DMPS does not strip minerals from the body but weakly bonds to zinc and copper.  It may also reduce vitamin B-6. There are no known interactions between DMPS and any pharmaceutical, vitamin, mineral or herbal formulations.  It is advised not to take minerals within two hours of oral administration.

 DMPS is created through a series of complex chemical reactions which has very low toxicity systemically and is generally well tolerated with long term use.  One should not use the chelator if pregnant or if intention is to get pregnant. 

 Symptoms may include mild itching, nausea, dizziness, fever, weakness, hives, mucous membrane reactions, or shivering.  In the case of inflammation of the mucous membranes, one should immediately discontinue the use of DMPS. 

 Patients who suffer chronic illness often turn to doctors who treat heavy metal burden in an effort to reduce symptoms.  Typically there is an event or history of exposure that makes this a candidate for consideration.  The duration of treatment typically is ten IVs once or twice per week for a total of 10 treatments and then levels are retested to monitor progress.  The ability to detoxify efficiently has a great deal to do with liver function and the ability to package up toxins in the pathway of Phase I detoxification.  Substances known as xenobiotics and metals can impair this pathway, making it extremely difficult to make progress. DMPS is mainly detoxified through the kidney, at approximately 90%.  The remainder is eliminated through the bile and GI tract.   If a patient has a history of poor nutrition, some of the circulating metals may be reabsorbed through the intestinal wall.   The longest reported continuous use of DMPS was four and one half years in some literature.  In some clinics oral chelation is reserved for children.

There has been a great deal of misinformation about DMPS and safety.   One should visit the official FDA website for proper information on its status at http://www.fda.gov

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