Chelation therapy consists of slow-drip IV injections of EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid),a synthetic amino acid, combined with aerobic exercise, special diet and no smoking.
Chelation therapy is not covered by Medicare nor will most insurance companies pay for it. The American Heart Association's Task Force on New and Unestablished Therapies reviewed the available literature on the use of chelation in treating arteriosclerotic heart disease. They found no scientific evidence to demonstrate any benefit from this form of therapy. Chelation therapy is surely a testable therapy. Advocates maintain that it has been tested and proven to be an effective cure of vascular diseases. Skeptics, which includes the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association, deny that studies support any such claims. Since chelation will alter some blood chemistries, the doctor will also order certain tests as baseline studies--usually a blood count, chemistry profile, and urinalysis. During your first visit, an actual chelation treatment won't be performed. You'll receive treatment once the preliminary tests have been evaluated by the practitioner.
chelation is painless and usually takes two to three hours per session. You recline comfortably while the EDTA is infused, usually through a vein in the arm or the back of the hand. The attending physician--an M.D. or D.O. (osteopathic doctor) trained in its use--monitors your blood pressure, blood sugar, and kidney function prior to and throughout the treatment.
The word chelation is derived from the Greek word chele that means claw (like that of a scorpion or crab). The concept of chelation is based on the observation that when a certain amino acid complex called EDTA (ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid) comes in contact with certain positively charged metals and other substances such as lead, iron, copper, calcium, magnesium, zinc, plutonium and manganese, it grabs them (hence the chele or claw), and removes them. Chelation therapy is the process of removing from the body the undesirable ionic material by the infusion, or taking orally, of an organic compound which has suitable chelating properties.
One way to think about the chelation process is to compare it to the way we unclog our drains. We add a chemical to our drain. It dissolves the blockage. The resulting compound is removed from the drain using the existing plumbing system. Chelation process works in a similar manner on our body. Chelation therapy is widely used for the treatment of atherosclerosis and other chronic degenerative diseases involving the circulatory system. It also has other benefits. Many scientists suggest that the beneficial effect of chelation treatment is from the removal of metallic catalysts that causes excessive free radical proliferation.
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