Chelation Therapy for Heart Disease

What is chelation therapy?  The metal elements such as lead, mercury, iron, arsenic and uranium, plutonium, to name a few, could be responsible toxic metal poisoning in your body.  The poisoning occurs when one or more of these heavy elements accumulate in soft tissues of the body, an amount that can be toxic to the individual.  In humans, metals generally lead poisoning include lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.  And an effective treatment methods to meet this condition is called chelation therapy.  In this case, a synthetic solution injected into the patient’s bloodstream.  Once in the blood, binds chemically to the heavy metals have caused the poisoning, and is eliminated from the body via the kidneys.  The synthesis solution that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating lead poisoning is called EDTA (ethylene).  But it is off-label use of this treatment for poisoning by metals than lead, and even heart problems, such as atherosclerosis and / or coronary artery disease.  In other words, the use of chelation therapy for clogged arteries which insufficient evidence to make a profit.

Chelation therapy for heart disease

Is it safe for the treatment of heart disease?
Speaking of blocked arteries, may also refer to a condition called atherosclerosis.  It is characterized by obstruction of the arteries (blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from the heart to the rest of the body).  And this can occur because of fatty deposits like cholesterol.  These are more properly called plaque or atheroma.  Now some of these discs could be calcium deposits.  While some experts believe is a chelating agent such as EDTA, when they are injected into the bloodstream latches on deposits of calcium and get it from the arteries as the agent moves through the blood of the blood.  Besides this, some health professionals believe that EDTA can also help to get rid of the other metals that can be combined with LDL cholesterol, which can form plaque in the arteries.  By doing so, chelation therapy, effectively reducing the risk of clogged arteries, or atherosclerosis.  In addition, some authors claim that this method can help to improve security circulatory pressure, reduce blood viscosity, improve cell membrane function and inhibit the formation of free radicals, to name a few.

However, the grass is not greener on the other side of the story.  There is no medical evidence to show that you can justify the use of chelation therapy for blocked arteries or other diseases or disorders of the heart.  And that is why this method is not considered a treatment option approved by either the American Heart Association or by the FDA for heart disease.  In fact, there have been cases where the use of chelation therapy have shown negative results in people with heart disease.  Moreover, a study in patients with heart disease who received chelation therapy.  And the results were positive, but unjustified, because it is not compared with those not receiving treatment.

In 1990, ten patients with peripheral vascular disease treated with EDTA chelation therapy.  The experts who conducted the study were of the opinion that EDTA was able to get rid of substances such as calcium, copper and zinc from the vascular space.  And one of the many positive effects of better lipoprotein metabolism and cholesterol and a decrease in plaque formation.  But between 1963 and 1985, some doctors working independently in more than seventy patients who had undergone chelation therapy.  And most of them have not found all sorts of improvements in atherosclerotic plaques, no evidence showing that the narrowing of the arteries began to be normal again.

Therefore, given the mixed results of these studies, the safety of chelation therapy controversial.  Moreover, this treatment is not considered a safe alternative, even at low doses for pregnant women, children and persons with a diagnosis of heart failure or kidney failure.

Side Effects
The most common risks or side effects that may be caused by this treatment are:

* The sudden drop in blood pressure, causing hypotension
* Nausea / vomiting
* Headache
* A burning sensation at the injection site
* One of the serious side effects may be unable to produce new blood cells

Because of uncertainty about the effects of chelation therapy in the treatment of heart disease, it is important that the patient consults his / her doctor and be aware of the risks of this treatment.  With the help of the National Institutes of Health, clinical trials conducted to determine the safety and usefulness of this treatment for heart disease.  And in some years, the study results released to the masses.  Therefore, before the experts come at a more detailed explanation, it is better to be on a safer side, and go to the specific treatments for conditions such as clogged arteries.