For the past 50 years, more than a million patients have undergone chelation therapy for a wide range of circulatory problems. Yet, at present, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only approves the therapy for treatment of lead poisoning. What do these patients know that officials have yet to understand?

Dr. Jeffrey Morrison, founder of The Morrison Center in New York, serves on the board of directors of the American Academy for the Advancement of Medicine, or ACAM (formerly American Academy of Medical Preventics). This leading authority and educator of physicians and health care providers on the proper use of chelation therapy first advises, "The accumulation of toxic metals in the body’s tissues can lead to elevated blood pressure, the risk of heart disease and neuro-degenerative conditions." Then Morrison points to accumulating case studies that prove the relationship.

Peter Holyk, MD, CNS of Contemporary Health Innovations, Inc in Sebastian, learned about Chelation Therapy from ACAM in 1995 when he documented both lead and mercury toxicity in his wife. Holyk used EDTA chelation therapy to reduce her high lead levels and used another form of chelation, DMPS, to help remove the mercury in her system. "There are many types of chelation therapy," explains Holyk. "EDTA is better for lead, arsenic and aluminum, but DMPS and DMSA are far better for mercury. Also, a number of procedures and supplements are extremely important to support the patient before, during, and after chelation." For Holyk’s wife, chelation meant the end of chronic migranes, extreme joint pain, chronic fatigue, and neurological symptoms.

It is uplifting for health care practitioners to see patients who formerly had coronary conditions, undergo treatment and reduce their symptoms. Holyk has witnessed the improvement of patients who, after chelation, return with neck carotid artery scans, coronary heart artery scans, and leg artery Doppler scans by traditional physicians that show dramatic improvement.

Chelation therapy’s long and varied history began in 1893, when French-Swiss chemist Alfred Werner developed the theory of coordination compounds, known today as chelates. Chelation (key-layshun) derives from the Greek chele, meaning to claw. Chelating agents are substances that can chemically bond with toxic minerals, metals and chemicals within the body. They encircle and carry away the unwanted matter from the body via excretion. Werner received the Nobel Prize for his work in 1913 and went on to establish the science of chelation chemistry.

Germany put Werner’s discovery to use in the manufacture of industrial paints, which required the elimination of heavy metal contamination. Rather than be dependent upon imported citric acid for their manufacturing process, the German chemists invented a safe amino acid known as ethylenediamine tetraacedic acid (EDTA), now also used in chelation therapy.

Further experimentation and research into this science from the 1940s to the 1980s led to the application of EDTA and chelation therapy in the treatment of individuals who had an accumulation of toxic metals, such as mercury and lead, in their body. It employs an intravenous infusion that may, according to an individual’s needs, include vitamins, magnesium and a saline solution. Fortunately, the only side effects that these early patients experienced were relief from arteriosclerosis, chest pains, arthritis, memory loss and the inability to concentrate.

The news eventually made its way into medical journals. By 1973, ACAM was formed to educate physicians in the proper uses of EDTA chelation therapies.

Today, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, both components of the National Institutes of Health, have launched the international Trial To Assess Chelation Therapy or TACT. Chelation Therapy Study. It’s the first large-scale, multi-center study to determine the efficacy of EDTA chelation therapy and/or high-dose vitamin/mineral supplements in the treatment of individuals with coronary artery disease.

"In medicine, we do two things," states Dr. Rajiv Chandra of TruMed Ed Chelation Center in Melbourne, "cure symptoms, or make a person live longer. Chelation can help with both. Over the last ten years I’ve seen some remarkable results." TruMed Ed Chelation Center is a top research center participating in the NIH sponsored TACT. Chandra explains, "We hope to prove that EDTA chelation therapy benefits people with physical problems that limit activity like intermittent claudication due to artery narrowing or arteriosclerosis, angina, and those with heart problems."

Michael Loquasto, a doctor of naturopathy, practices chelation therapy at the Borton Medical Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania. "I prefer to call the therapy a vitamin cocktail," says Loquasto, "because we add vitamins C and B6, along with magnesium and calcium."

Loquasto believes that physicians should not limit chelation to detoxification. Rather, "It can help any health condition," he says, "since it increases circulation, which naturally offers more healthful oxygen to all parts of the body."

To connect with Dr. Peter Holyk at Contemporary Health Innovations, Inc in Sebastian, FL call 772-388-5554. See ad on back cover.

Additional participants are needed to complete the trial (TACT). To connect with Dr. Rajiv Chandra at TruMed Ed Chelation Center in Melbourne, FL call the Chelation Study Hotline at 321-953-6420 ext.333.

To connect with Dr. Michael Loquasto at the Borton Medical Center in Allentown, PA, call 610-791-2453.

To connect with Dr. Jeffrey Morrison at The Morrison Center in New York City, call 212-989-9828.