But . . .

There is a darker side to the brilliant progress exemplified by such medical techniques, relating to an apparent lack of awareness of, or interest in, safer alternative treatment methods for dealing with pre­crisis conditions. Among these relatively inexpensive and safe preventive measures must be numbered chelation therapy. (It is also useful in treatment of coronary thrombosis ­ see below.)

Many of the drugs used by conventional medicine for prevention and treatment of such conditions do not address causes but rather tamper with symptoms (for example, drugs which lower blood pressure, while ignoring the causes of its elevation, or which interfere with calcium uptake without dealing with the long­term effect of residual calcification, or drugs which attempt to reduce heightened cholesterol levels, proving themselves successful at this task but leading to a higher mortality rate from other causes than were nothing done at all). Most such drugs create at least as many problems as they solve (compare this with the results of EDTA treatment on cholesterol as described below).

There is also strong evidence of the overuse of surgical methods, such as bypass surgery; indeed, a recent US survey indicated that almost half of bypass operations were not essential, even though this survey took orthodox criteria as to what was 'essential' as the yardstick.

And what­about transplants? The concentration of surgical experts and their back­up teams with high­tech, spectacular, surgical methods (such as are employed in transplant surgery) benefit very few (albeit often amazingly so), while depriving or delaying care for many more through such allocation of scarce resources.

In the USA, where chelation now has a 30­year track record it might be expected that insurance companies would be supportive of chelation therapy as a cheaper alternative to bypass surgery. And yet this not yet so. A recent legal action, brought by a patient against his insurance company (for refusing to pay his expenses for highly successful chelation treatment) led to some pertinent comments from the judge trying the case. The case was heard in Lorain County, Ohio where the judge, George Ferguson, ordered Aetna Insurance to pay the chelation expenses, stating in his judgement:

It is interesting to note that the Defendant (insurance company) would presumably pay for very expensive bypass surgery where there have been 4000 deaths in 300,000 cases, but is refusing to pay for chelation therapy where there have been approximately 20 deaths in 300,000 cases. Insurance companies are repeatedly urging second opinions where surgery is recommended. The Plaintiff was advised to have surgery on June 2 1987, at Elyria Memorial Hospital. Plaintiff obtained a second opinion from a duly licensed physician, followed the second physicians advice (chelation therapy), is alive today and saved the insurance company the expensive coronary bypass surgical operation. (Day vs. Aetna Life Insurance Company, 87CV12710, Elyria Municipal Court, Lorain County, Ohio, 1988)
The complexities of prejudice, ignorance of alternatives, and in some cases outright vested commercial interest, are all sometimes involved in the antagonism of many medical practitioners to chelation therapy. Nevertheless, hundreds of physicians support its simpler and safer approaches to degenerative cardiovascular conditions, and its safety record is evident to all who wish to investigate it.

Just what does EDTA do when it is infused? In order to appreciate its activities we need to return to cellular metabolism for a short while.

Reducing free radical activity

Body cells contain miniature factories in which complex biochemical processes are continuously underway with raw materials being turned into energy and protein compounds. Within the cell there exist internal transportation mechanisms and also the means for the transfer of raw materials into the cell, as well as of processed products and wastes out of it. These precise and dynamic functions, however, many of which depend upon complex enzyme activity, are vulnerable should the materials which surround the cell become damaged.

The intracellular membrane which surrounds the cell is far from being a mere envelope, but is involved in important organizational functions, including the control of what passes through it. The active cell membrane is itself made up of lipids (and cholesterol), proteins and water. Should free radical activity take place in its vicinity, destructive effects occur, producing lipid peroxidation (this is what happens when fats become rancid). When this occurs the functioning of cell 'factories' would be either severely disorganized or put out of action, the organizational enzymes could be lost, the distribution of raw material and finished manufactured products and energy disorganized, and a process started of local tissue degeneration.

This is the picture of what happens when atherosclerosis begins in an artery wall. Much lipid peroxidation activity involves the presence of metal ions such as iron, copper or calcium and it is these which EDTA so effectively locks onto, preventing their destructive influence from operating.

Research over the past 30 years has confirmed this benefit from EDTA (e.g. Barber and Bernheim). Of course, this protective influence would be much enhanced were there an appreciable presence of antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins C and E, selenium, and amino acid complexes such as glutathione peroxidase, which not only mop up free radical activity but also assist in building up cell membrane stability.

Cell energy production

Within each cell there reside up to 2500 miniature energy producing factories, the mitochondria. One of the main functions of each mitochondria is to translate inorganic phosphate (ADP), sugar (glucose) and oxygen into adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the universal form of energy used by the body. This energy producing activity of the mitochondria involves a series of intricate, complex and vital biochemical processes dependent on vast numbers of enzymes (estimates vary from between 500 to 10,000 complete sets of oxidative enzymes in each mitochondria) which are themselves dependent upon dozens of nutrient factors and co­factors.

If calcium is abnormally deposited in arterial walls this inhibits some enzyme activity and negatively influences ATP (energy) production. If through free radical activity, or through any other disturbing influences on normal energy production or transfer by damaged mitochondria, cells can become energy starved, they tend then to become more acidic. This happens for a multitude of reasons: it may be to do with ageing or to calcium/magnesium ratios becoming unbalanced, due to free radical activity, local toxicity, oxygen deficit, nutritional imbalance, etc. Elmer Cranton, MD, reminds us that EDTA increases the efficiency of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (energy production) quite independently of any effect on arterial blood supply' and let us not forget his statement that EDTA can reduce the production of free radicals by a million­fold.

Cells which have become energy starved and more acidic for whatever reason start to attract calcium ions, drawing them into the cell, further blocking energy production. An increase in calcium inside cells, accompanied by reduced oxygen and lower energy manufacture and availability, is a typical picture found in degenerative cardiovascular conditions. It is also a prescription for the muscles which surround the arteries to go into spasm. This is the reason for the use of calcium channel blocker drugs, which may be effective in blocking calcium uptake by muscle cells but do nothing about the underlying condition.

Morton Walker and Garry Gordon (1982) have discussed calcium channel­blocking drugs:

Calcium channel blockers are not as efficient in permanently restoring heart health as is EDTA chelation therapy, but even these calcium antagonists are clearly better, as a coronary medical programme, than open heart surgery. They inhibit the excessive accumulation of calcium in the heart cells and allow ATP production. Additionally, if you are the patient in heart spasm, you can help avoid death of the starved portion of your heart muscle. You will not show the elevated enzymes (CPK, LDH, SCOT and others)that your doctor measures in your blood test each day to see how many heart cells have really died and released their enzymes. An actual heart attack will be avoided . . . you will usually be able to go home from hospital the next day by having calcium channelblocking agents and/or chelation therapy.

Elmer Cranton and Arline Brecher (1984) describe some of the stages involved:

Impairment of the calcium/magnesium pump allows more ionized calcium to enter the cell, activating an enzyme that leads to the production of prostaglandin related leukotrienes, a chemical process which releases free radicals. When excessively stimulated by leukotrienes, white blood cells run amok and initiate free radical production, which causes increasing inflammatory damage to healthy tissues. Small blood vessels dilate, causing swelling, oedema, and leakage of red blood cells and platelets through blood vessel walls which result in microthrombi (microscopic clots). Some red blood cells then haemolyse releasing free copper and iron, which in turn catalyse an increase of free radical destruction to lipid membranes in the vicinity of a million­fold, triggering another vicious cycle.
This process is compounded by the presence of additional vitamin D and cholesterol because free radical activity helps to convert cholesterol into substances with vitamin D activity, resulting in plaque (in which cholesterol is usually bound) attracting calcium, thus cementing the material.

EDTA infusion, which has the ability to remove metal ions, stops or slows metals which are significant causes of free radical production. In removing metals, local toxicity is reduced and enzyme production and function improves. We should not underestimate the role of toxic metal ions in the body, whether these are of lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, iron or aluminum. Once these have been chelated by EDTA and removed from their deposition sites, free radical activity and consequent disruption of metabolic function is largely prevented. Once this has happened normal enzyme function resumes.

A further well­established effect of EDTA infusion involves the improvement of cell membrane integrity and consequent protection of mitochondria activity. If this is happening in the heart muscle itself, such improvement in cell function (enhanced energy production via enhanced mitochondria activity) often allows a strong chance of salvaging and regenerating previously damaged muscle function, with benefits to the heart and therefore the body as a whole.

Research by Dr C Gallagher as long ago as 1960 (Gallagher, 1960) showed that the natural ageing of the mitochondria could be counteracted by use of EDTA.

Reducing blood 'stickiness'

Not only does EDTA remove circulating ionic calcium from the blood, but it also acts directly on improving the function of blood platelets. These (which contain granules, lysosomes, mitochondria and glucose), along with red and white blood cells (erythrocytes and leucocytes), make up much of the 'solid' material suspended in the blood plasma which itself is made up of a complex of protein­based substances including fibrinogen, albumin and globulin, as well as carrying in solution salts, hormones and a variety of metabolic products and wastes.

Platelets have as a major function the role of initiating repair of any damaged internal lining in blood vessels. This they accomplish, under the direction of prostaglandin hormones called prostacyclin (which discourages clotting and reduces muscle spasm) and thromboxane (which encourages muscle spasm and the stickiness of blood), firstly by adhering to the damaged surface, gradually covering the region of injury, while at the same time reducing the danger of hemorrhage by encouraging a degree of coagulation of the blood. As all this happens, the shape of the platelets alters from a disc shape to a more irregular form, with radiating filaments known as pseudopodia extending from them as well as developing inside them. These protective functions of platelets are therefore life­enhancing. But, should the process of organization of clots (coagulation) take place in a cerebral artery the consequences could well be life­threatening and would certainly pose a hazard until it resolved.

Just how EDTA reduces these dangers is not clear, but it does. The reduction, after use of EDTA, in the tendency to overcoagulation is thought by some to relate to the way EDTA removes ionic calcium from the membrane of the platelet. Or it may be that a more healthy, balanced production of the prostaglandins which control platelet function and activity are influenced by the way EDTA inhibits lipid peroxidation, since prostoglandins are the product of lipids which can be severely damaged by free radical activity.

Normalizing abnormal cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels

As we age there is an increasing tendency for our bloodcholesterol levels to rise. High blood cholesterol was for many years used alone as a marker of increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The fashion for blaming all cholesterol has only partly been reduced in the public mind through education, but medical practitioners now know that it is only some forms of cholesterol which pose a real threat ­ the low density forms (LDL). Indeed the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL (high density lipoprotein beneficial form) is now used as a clear indication of relative safety or danger, in terms of being a predictor of cardiovascular disease.

In a series of simple but effective experiments, McDonagh, Rudolph, and Cheraskin (1982b) have shown that EDTA infusion has a markedly beneficial effect on this potentially serious problem.

The effects on over 200 patients with varying levels of HDL cholesterol measurements were quite dramatic. Those who initially showed low levels of HDL rose to normal levels, those with normal levels remained unaltered, and those with high levels of LDL (dangerous) dropped to normal ranges after EDTA­chelation therapy (supported with vitamin and mineral supplementation).

Thus we see a homoeostatic (balancing, normalizing) effect after the use of EDTA, since it supported a return towards normal HDL­cholesterol levels, whether the initial abnormality was high or low.

How long before such change starts to be significant?

This same team of researchers, working in a private practice setting, found that: ' . . there appears to be a significant reduction in serum cholesterol within the first month or so (range of 12­36 days) of treatment with EDTA . . . in private practice environment, irrespective of the age or sex of the patient' Excitingly, it was found that: '. . . those with the highest initial cholesterol scores decreased about twice as much as those with the lower first score (approximately 17 per cent as against 9 per cent)'

With regard to the ratios between total cholesterol and HDL, these homoeostatic effects were measured as follows:

The 'normal, balance between total cholesterol and HDL is considered to be a ratio of 4.5:1. The McDonagh, Rudolph and Cheraskin team found that those with 'relatively low ratios (under 4.0) tended to rise, while those with relatively high ratios (over 5.0) tended to decline, and those in the range 4.0­4.9 tended to remain unchanged'
This important research is deserving of far wider awareness and application since cardiovascular disease is the number one killer and these risk factors are demonstrably easy and safe to control or normalize (by EDTA, diet and life­style changes).

Removal of calcium from plaque

In Chapter 4 we looked at some of the ways in which cardiovascular disease developed. Once a localized area of plaque has accumulated in an artery, following some degree of local irritation and subsequent repair (which the plaque represents to a large extent), there exists a strong case for trying to remove any calcium in the plaque in order to prevent its inevitable build up towards this becoming a complete obstruction. It is the loosely bound calcium in the plaque, held by an electrostatic charge, which prevents the body from dissolving it. When EDTA is infused it mops up the ionic (free) calcium in the blood serum, triggering release of parathormone. This produces a demand for calcium in the blood and this is first mobilized from the calcium deposited in metastatic sites (plaque, soft tissue deposits, etc.), thus allowing the process of resorption of the plaque material and restoration of normal arterial status.

However, this does not happen quickly. It is only by repetitive, very slow infusions of EDTA that the process takes place safely

Does this not damage bone and tooth structure?

On the contrary, the status of bone is enhanced after a series of EDTA chelation infusions. This is directly related to the influence of parathyroid hormone. After EDTA infusion there is a rapid removal of ionic calcium from the bloodstream (the EDTA/calcium complex is excreted via the kidneys). The resulting drop in circulating calcium stimulates parathyroid hormone production which results in the removal of ionic calcium from metastatic deposits (such as occur in plaque). At the same time a phenomenon occurs in response to parathormone, described by Doctors Rasmussen and Bordier (1974), in which preosteoblasts are converted into osteoblasts.

Since osteoblasts are the cells which form bone, building the osseous matrix of the skeleton, new bone formation is thus encouraged. This is often confirmed by X­ray examination of bone before and after a series of chelation infusions.

According to Cranton and Brecher (1984):

Pulsed intermittent parathormone stimulation, produced by each chelation (treatment) is known to cause a lasting effect on osteoblasts of approximately three months' duration. This is a proven effect of EDTA, and one that makes perfect sense, for it provides a hypothetical explanation for the three month waiting period for complete benefit following a series of intravenous EDTA therapy infusions.

Walker and Gordon (1982) suggest that:

Soft tissue pathological calcium in plaques or arterial cells continues to diminish in order to meet the need caused by the increased bone uptake of calcium. The therapeutic cycle continues long after a series of chelation treatment has been completed and patients continue to improve all this time.
They describe the work of Dr. Carlos Lamar who explained his findings on this topic at the fourteenth annual meeting of the American College of Angiology in 1968. Dr Lamar had demonstrated that as calcification of the blood vessels decreased so did simultaneous recalcification take place of previously osteoporotic vertebral and femoral bones. Similarly, metastatic calcium deposits in arthritic joints was often seen by Dr Lamar to decrease. In such cases deformity often remained but symptoms of pain and immobility were reduced or absent after chelation therapy. Walker and Gordon remind us, however, that chelation itself is not the whole answer: 'Hardened arteries get softer and softened bones get harder following proper EDTA chelation therapy ­where appropriate mineral supplementation with zinc, magnesium and other minerals is being given, dietary calcium/phosphorus ratio is balanced and active exercise undertaken.'[original italics]

The cancer connection

By now the concept of free radical damage resulting in tissue damage and consequent deterioration of circulatory function should be quite familiar. It is perhaps less apparent that free radical damage is frequently the trigger which leads to malignant changes in previously normal cells. Just as the first benefits to circulation of EDTA chelation therapy were discovered during treatment of heavy metal poisoning, so was the way in which this same treatment could help prevent, and indeed treat, cancer discovered.

Writing in a Swiss medical journal in 1976, Dr W Blumen described the strange but potentially very important discovery. In the late 1950s a group of residents of Zurich who lived adjacent to a major traffic route were treated for contamination by lead with EDTA chelation under the auspices of the Zurich Board of Health. These people had all inhaled large amounts of lead­laden fumes and were suffering from a range of symptoms identified as being related to lead poisoning, including stomach ache, fatigue, headache, digestive symptoms, etc. lead deposits were found to be present in their gum tissues and specific changes were found in their urine, linking their condition with high lead levels.

Some years later, in the early 1970s, people living in the same area were being investigated for the incidence of cancer, in an attempt to link the pollution with a higher cancer rate than average. This link was easily established as fully 11 per cent of the residents of the road had died of cancer over the period 1959 to 1972, a rate some 900 per cent above that expected when compared with people living in the same community but not directly affected by lead pollution. The forms of cancer most commonly related involved the lungs, colon, stomach, breast and ovary.

But what of the people previously treated with EDTA back in 1959?

Only one of the 47 people in that group had developed cancer. The cancer rate in people in the contaminated area who had not received EDTA was 600 per cent above that of the group who had had chelation.

Far and away the best protection from lead toxicity and its long­term effects is to avoid it altogether. However, this is of course not always within the control of the individual and a second best bet is to have the lead removed via chelation as a protective measure against its undoubted toxicity which can contribute towards the evolution of cancer.

Australian research scientist John Sterling, who has worked at the famous Issels clinic in Germany, mentions in a personal communication that Issels had noted a marked protective effect against cancer after use of EDTA chelation.

Animal studies (using mice) have shown that intravenous EDTA plays a preventive role against cancer, largely, it is thought, through removal of metallic ions which seem to be essential for tumour growth.

Walker and Gordon believe that the prevention offered to the citizens of Zurich was partly as a result of removal of metal ions and of lead (which can chronically depress immune function) and also due to the improvement in circulation which chelation produced. Tumours flourish in areas of poor oxygenation and the increase in the levels of this which chelation allows would, they believe, be sufficient to retard cancer development.

Halstead (1979) points to the significant increase in metal ions found as tissues age and the increased likelihood of cancer developing. There is also a proven link between high levels of certain metals in topsoil and cancer in the same regions. Interestingly, he confirms that most forms of chemotherapy involve drugs which have chelating effects either directly or as a result of breakdown of their constituents. He quotes experimental studies which show that in some forms of cancer such as Ehrlich's ascites tumour the use of EDTA was significantly able to strip the tumour cells of their heavy protective coat, allowing other mechanisms (such as protein digesting enzymes) to destroy the tumours.

At the very least EDTA chelation can be seen to offer a useful line of investigation in cancer prevention, and possibly treatment, in some forms of this disease.

Benefits for some mental problems

Dr Wayne Perry (1988) comments on one of the beneficial 'side effects' of EDTA therapy when he states: 'Those who have used EDTA have been impressed by the dramatic effects that can occur in some patients, and this action might be explained by its powerful anti­depressant effect, shown in a double blind trial over and above any placebo action' (See Kay et al 1984.) In discussing the objective evidence of general improvement amongst patients having EDTA he includes 'general alertness, concentration and memory' as common.

Clearly, if circulation to the brain is enhanced the function of that organ should improve. Equally important to mental function would be the removal of heavy metals, the toxicity of which are common causes of a wide range of problems affecting the brain and nervous system. It should therefore not be surprising that EDTA often leads to improved memory and reduced tendency to depression and other apparently 'psychological' symptoms.

The research team of McDonagh, Rudolph and Cheraskin have looked at just this aspect of EDTA chelation therapy's effect ­ the psychotherapeutic benefits. (McDonagh, Rudolph and Cheraskin, 1984, 1985a, 1985b) They used a standard medical questionnaire (Cornell Medical Index ­ see Brodman et al 1949) at the first consultation to allow 139 routine private­practice patients, 83 of whom were male, to answer questions from which 'depression 'tension' and 'anger' tendencies could be discovered. These same patients completed the same questionnaire at the end of a series of EDTA infusions (plus multimineral/vitamin support supplementation) over a two month period. There was a 40 per cent reduction in depression indications amongst those patients who showed a tendency towards depression in their first questionnaire. There was a 50 per cent reduction in 'tension' symptoms and a 46 per cent reduction in 'anger' indications at the end of the treatment period.

The researchers speculate that the improvement was due to overall improvement in cellular nutrition as a result of the enhanced circulation due to this form of treatment. They note that the improvements in emotional status, observed in this study, were superior in degree to any physical improvements noted in their many previous studies.

General symptoms and fatigue reduced after EDTA therapy

Using the same approach these researchers had over 100 patients complete the whole Cornell Medical Index (CMI) questionnaire before and after a chelation series which averaged 26 infusions over a two­month period. The CMI questionnaire is designed to collect a great deal of information in a short space of time. Anyone with more than 25 positive answers out of the 195 questions is considered to be suffering from a significant degree of current ill­health.

Before treatment, the average number of positive answers amongst these patients was 31.7, indicating an overall poor level of health. Some patients had as many as 95 'Yes' answers, with the lowest score being 3; more than half of the patients had over 25 positive answers. When the CMI questionnaire was answered again after the therapy series there was a drop of 46 per cent in those with more than 25 positive answers and the overall number of symptoms reported dropped by 15 per cent.

Considering the fact that over half those involved were by any definition in very poor health, the improvements were remarkable, and the very general nature of their spread supports the contention of these researchers that they were due to generalized nutritional enhancement due to circulatory improvements resulting from EDTA therapy.

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