Chelation therapy is an alternative treatment that’s used to remove heavy metals and other toxins from the body by using chemicals. It has been used for a long to treat lead and mercury poisoning, but, now, many believe that it can be beneficial for preventing heart diseases and other health problems.
In this article, we discuss the top 10 things you need to know about EDTA Chelation.
1. Chelation Therapy Is Conducted Through An Intravenous (IV) drip
In chelation therapy, the chemical substance enters the bloodstream through an intravenous drip. The chemical in the bloodstream then binds itself to toxic metals or minerals in the body and removes them.
EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid) is a form of amino acid that’s commonly used to remove substances, such as lead, copper, and calcium deposits from the body.
2. Help With Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease where plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries. These plaques are caused by deposits of lipids, like cholesterol and calcium. These plaques can cause several problems, like blocking the blow flow, blood clotting, and weakening of the artery wall.
Chelation therapy may help remove these calcium deposits and supposedly restore the blood flow in the arteries.
3. Slows The Progression of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is a disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate and die. Patients of this disease have an abnormal build-up of proteins and metals that damage the brain. Metals, like zinc, iron, and copper may also build up in the brain, causing plaques.
Chelation therapy may help remove the excessive build-up of proteins and metal from the brain, which may help slow the progression of the disease.
4. Helps With Heavy Metal Poisoning
Chelation treatment is may treat heavy metal poisoning. Some of the common symptoms of heavy metal toxicity include chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, autoimmune disease, and neurological disorders.
To help with metal poisoning, EDTA is injected into the patient’s bloodstream. The EDTA then binds itself to the harmful metals and coverts the harmful toxins into inert substances that can be removed from the body through urine.
5. Reduce The Risk For Heart Diseases
Heart diseases occur when the fatty deposits in the arteries cause the blood vessels to narrow. This further affects the blood flow in the heart. ETDA chelation will bind to the deposits that caused the blockage, then remove it from the blood.
Though chelation therapy can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and other heart diseases, this treatment hasn’t been approved by the FDA. Therefore, if you’re thinking of chelation therapy to improve your heart’s health, it’s important to consult your doctor.
6. Helps With Oxidative Stress
Iron is one of the most important minerals required by the body to function. The lack of it can lead to anemia. However, abnormal amounts of iron in the body can lead to free radical toxicity. Imbalance in iron regulation can also lead to other diseases, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
A study highlights the key role of iron in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that causes damage to lipids, proteins, and DNA. Thereby, increasing free radicals in the body. This leads to increased oxidative stress, which directly impacts the aging process, leading to several health issues.
In chelation therapy, iron-designed chelators may block the iron’s ability to create free radicals, thereby reducing oxidative stress.
7. Anti-Aging
Some of the key factors that contribute to the aging process are increased amounts of toxic metals in the body, increased oxidative stress, and abnormal calcium deposits that often lead to various health problems and accelerates the aging process, making you look tired and old.
Chelation therapy may remove the toxic metals from your body, reduces oxidative stress, and improves blood circulation. All these factors considerably contribute to slow down the aging process.
8. Reduces High Blood Pressure
Metal toxicity is one of the key factors linked to high blood pressure that has often been overlooked. Abnormal amounts of metal in the bloodstream can affect the function of certain enzymes in your body, leading to blood vessel damage and inflammation.
Furthermore, large amounts of metal in the body also increased the production of epinephrine, which is also known as adrenaline. This puts the body on the fight or flight survival mode, making the heart beat faster. All of these factors contribute to increased blood pressure.
When chelation therapy is administered, it binds to the toxic heavy metals, like lead, which contributes largely to high blood pressure. When this happens, it may reduce your blood pressure. Chelation therapy may also reduce the risk of angina attacks.
9. Manages Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune arthritis that occurs when the body’s immune system isn’t working properly, causing inflammation and pain in your joints. This condition can slowly damage several parts of the body, like eyes, lungs, skin, heart, and blood vessels.
Since toxic metals play an integral role in impairing the proper functioning of the immune system, removing them from the bloodstream may help reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
A study was conducted on an old Italian woman with rheumatoid arthritis and heavy metal intoxication. She was given an EDTA chelation treatment for metal intoxication and the final results didn’t show any signs of mental intoxication and her rheumatoid symptoms had improved.
10. Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis
As thousands of patients use it in the US, chelation therapy has been used as a treatment for multiple sclerosis. One of the key triggers for MS patients is toxic metal poisoning.
Chelation therapy is used to clear the heavy metals from the body that may further help reduce MS triggers caused by inadequate metal detoxication from the body.
Symptoms Of Chelation Therapy
Though chelation therapy is FDA approved for the treatment of lead poisoning, there’s not enough evidence to prove that the treatment is effective for various other diseases. Sometimes, chelation therapy can cause symptoms like a burning sensation near the injection site, vomiting, headache, and nausea.
Furthermore, chelation therapy can cause serious symptoms, like low blood pressure, brain damage, anemia, and mineral and vitamin deficiencies. Therefore, it’s important to consult your doctor before you start with the treatment.
Chelation therapy shouldn’t be undertaken by children, pregnant women, and patients suffering from kidney failure.
Dosage and Cost
The number of treatments required to treat a disorder depends largely on the disease and its condition. However, in most cases, chelation therapy is conducted several times a week to a few months to get optimal benefits.
A single session may cost between USD$75 to USD$125. Though the treatment is covered by insurance companies, the coverage is limited to the treatments approved by the FDA.
Natural Chelating Agents
Heavy metal toxicity is known to be an integral factor for several health conditions. From serious health issues, like lead poisoning and autoimmune diseases, milder levels of metal toxicity can lead to symptoms, like headaches, nausea, and vomiting. That’s why it's important to rid the body of heavy metal toxins.
Chelation has been popularly adapted for clearing these toxins through the use of chelating agents in the form of oral medicine or IV drips. However, you can also use foods with natural chelation properties for mild metal toxicity to restore your health.
To avoid heavy metal toxicity, here are a few natural chelating agents you can add to your daily diet:
· Cilantro: Cilantro is known as an immunity booster as it helps remove heavy metal toxins, like aluminum, mercury, and lead. Regular consumption of cilantro for two weeks can considerably remove heavy metals from your body. You can simply add cilantro to your diet by adding it to your meals and snacks, such as tacos.
· Activated Charcoal: Activated charcoal is known for its ability to bind with heavy metals in the body, then flush them out. Taking food-grade activated charcoal as a daily supplement leads to metal and general detoxification, which is important to keep the body healthy.
· Onion And Garlic: The Sulphur content found in onion and garlic can help remove the toxic heavy metals from your body. Other than onion and garlic, foods like Brussel sprouts, eggs, and cabbage also have high amounts of Sulphur that can help remove toxic metals from the body.
Conclusion
Chelation Therapy is an effective treatment for removing heavy metal toxicity from the body. Also, it has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of metal poisoning. Due to its ability to remove heavy metal toxins, it has been effective for treating conditions where heavy metal toxicity is one of the factors that cause the disease, like rheumatoid arthritis, oxidative stress, and multiple sclerosis.
Chelation therapy is also being widely used for treating heart diseases as it's an effective way to remove the plaques on the artery walls, leading to improved blood circulation. The most common way to administer chelation treatment is through IV dips. However, you can also take them orally.
Though chelation therapy can be an effective alternative treatment to treat several diseases, it’s important to discuss the treatment and dosage with your doctor. This way, you can get optimal health benefits from it without having to face any major risks.
