What Is Chelation Therapy?

By Penny Logan

When looking up the word chelation in the dictionary you will find out that it is a chemical compound that combines with a metal compound to create a ring. The way it works when administered to a patient is the natural chemical compound goes through the system and binds to metals, deposits of calcium and other built up deposits in the body and eliminates the substances through the liver and kidneys.

The word chelation originally comes from a Greek word "Chele." Chele refers to the claw of a crab or lobster. So, Chele when used to refer to chelation therapy refers to the grabbing action because it takes the toxins out of the body.

When chelation therapy is executed, an amino acid is used. An amino acid is an organic compound which makes up the building blocks from which proteins are constructed. In this instance, EDTA is used for the chelation therapy. First a person is tested by a doctor to find out the correct amount of EDTA to utilize for the treatment. It is usually delivered intravenously but it has also been delivered orally or by suppository.

A poisonous gas was used that affected service men in World War I. The gas was called lewisite and the toxic effects it created was due to the use of arsenic in the gas. Rather than EDTA, a different amino acid was used at that time to handle the toxicity but it created serious side-effects.

The subject of metal toxicity needed to be tackled again to help the Naval personnel of World War II. The paint that was used for the hulls on naval ships had high amounts of lead and the men wound up with lead poisoning. The chelation therapy that was done then utilized EDTA for the first time.

Around 1950, another situation with metal toxicity occurred when battery factory workers suffered lead poisoning. This particular situation opened the doors for more research into chelation therapy and what else it could handle because some of the factory workers had suffered from angina and coronary artery problems before the chelation treatment for the lead poisoning but afterwards the symptoms ceased.

Because the treatment worked so well, it was further investigated as a solution for other illnesses and to eliminate foreign toxins. It was found that EDTA successfully reduced calcium levels in patients with hypercalcemia (which means an abnormally large amount of calcium in the blood).

Further research was done to find out if chelation therapy using EDTA would be effective in treating arteriosclerotic heart disease - which means a degenerative change in the arteries, characterized by a thickening of the vessel walls and accumulation of calcium with consequent loss of elasticity and lessened blood flow. EDTA was found to help reverse the degeneration.

After the research was done, more uses for chelation therapy were found. Today it's use has expanded to not only be useful to rid the body of heavy metals, calcium build ups and for degenerative heart problems but also for reducing cholesterol, toxins and other minerals that build up and form deposits in the system. It is a long term proven method for enhancing and improving circulation and for improving the health of arteries. It is usually delivered by alternative treatment physicians while other physicians still use a scalpel and drugs to handle physical ailments. - 30540

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