Does EDTA remove arterial plaque?

I am wondering if anyone knows of any authoritative information on oral EDTA and whether it can reverse atherosclerosis? Does anyone have any direct before and after experience? I've read a lot of sales pitches for this stuff, which is for sale on Ebay.

There is a product that my family has used for years that contains EDTA and some other things. (MSM and NAC..)

I can't say for sure if it's because of the the use of this product - but when I've been checked for arterial build up and clots in the areas of my cancer surgery...(leg, lower abdomin, etc...) the ultrasounds have been amazingly clear.

I also supplement with minerals when taking the product as it chelates other things from your system as well. I wouldn't take it as a daily supplement. I used it occasionally - maybe once or twice a week.

http://www.nutritiondome.com/31011.html

Bicycle Junkie said:

I am wondering if anyone knows of any authoritative information on oral EDTA and whether it can reverse atherosclerosis? Does anyone have any direct before and after experience? I've read a lot of sales pitches for this stuff, which is for sale on Ebay.

Click to expand...

Oral EDTA, No.

Because very little EDTA is absorbed when taken by mouth, EDTA must be given intravenously to effectively treat cardiovascular disease. Because EDTA remains in the digestive tract for long periods it interferes with absorption of essential nutrients. Thus EDTA by mouth on a regular basis for a prolonged time is potentially toxic .


http://www.drcranton.com/chelation/oralchelation.htm

While it is theoretically possible over a period of weeks and months to slowly absorb a substantial amount of EDTA by mouth, if taken on a daily basis, there are dangers with that:

1. The unabsorbed 95 percent of EDTA that remains within the digestive tract mixes with undigested food and essential nutrients, causing them to pass on out of the body in stool. This unabsorbed EDTA binds tightly to and blocks absorption of many essential nutritional trace elements. It prevents normal absorption of zinc, manganese, chromium, vanadium, copper, chromium, molybdenum and other essential nutrients, causing nutritional deficiencies.

2. When EDTA enters the body, either by mouth or intravenously, it removes 10 to 20 times more of the essential nutritional trace elements (such as zinc and manganese) than it does the undesired iron and other elements that can speed ageing and cause atherosclerosis. When given intravenously, with 100% absorption, a full therapeutic dose of EDTA can be administered with 20 to 30 daily doses. Replenishment of essential trace elements from diet and supplements will occur during the remaining 330 or so days of the year, when EDTA is not present to interfere. Because such a small amount is absorbed by mouth, oral EDTA must be given every day to absorb what is alleged to be an effective dose, with no break to replenish the essential nutrients that are continuously being blocked and depleted.

3. Intravenous EDTA results in high therapeutic blood levels. EDTA remains entirely outside of cells while the benefit occurs within cells. EDTA by mouth results in very low blood levels with no proven benefit in treatment of cardiovascular disease. Only with the intermittent high blood levels that occur following intravenous infusion can EDTA have the desired intracellular effect.

Bicycle Junkie said:

I am wondering if anyone knows of any authoritative information on oral EDTA and whether it can reverse atherosclerosis? Does anyone have any direct before and after experience? I've read a lot of sales pitches for this stuff, which is for sale on Ebay.

Click to expand...

Scientifically no it should not reverse atherosclerosis. It may help as a prevention tool although the negatives probably outweigh any advantage.

The mechanism of EDTA (ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid) works on trapping cations while they are in their ionized form. Once they settle out as solids and are blocking the artery, they are not ionized. Hence the mechanism for chelation is moot.

As a prevention tool, it is possible for the EDTA to act as an aid to chelate out cationic precoursors prior to precipitation as arterial plaque.

The general problem with EDTA for such a purpose is it's moderately indiscriminate as to the cations it will chelate out of your system (good or bad). The statements in post #3 are pretty accurate at hitting on this.

study being done

http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2002/chelation/pressrelease.htm
A 5 year study is currently being done. Will be completed in September 2008.
The link has all kinds of information.

I am sold on IV chelation.

The following are the results of vascular tests I had done before and after 20 chelation treatments of EDTA.

Test #1 August 17, 2005
before starting treatments:

Brain artery/opthalmic
[Should be greater than 3.5]
Right side of my face near eye 3.13
Left side of my face artery near eye 3.25

Outer Carotid in neck
[Should be greater than 4.0]
Right outer branch of my carotid 2.69
Left outer branch of my carotid 2.50

Inner branch of carotid in neck
[Should be greater than 4.0]
Right inner branch 3.52
Left inner branch 1.94!

Main branch of carotid in upper chest
[Should be greater than 4.5]
Right main branch 4.06
Left main branch 4.04

Test #2 November 23, 2005,
after completing 20 chelation treatments

Brain artery/opthalmic
[Should be greater than 3.5]
Right artery near right eye 3.81
Left artery near left eye 3.88

Outer branch of Carotid in neck
[Should be greater than 4.0]
Right outer branch 3.59
Left outer branch 3.13

Inner branch of carotid in neck
[Should be greater than 4.0]
Right inner branch 4.41
Left inner branch 3.19

Main branch of carotid in upper chest
[should be greater than 4.5]
Right branch 4.56
Left branch 4.75

Note: After completing the series of 20 chelation intravenous treatments, the body continues to clean off the arteries for 3 months without additional treatments. For continued treatment and prevention of future artery clogging, a maintenance of 1 chelation treatment per month is recommended.

The clinic where I had the treatments is currently involved in the government 5 year study. I was not involved in the study. IIRC, I think you had to qualify by having a known heart problem. My 20 treatments cost $75 each. I believe this has now gone up to $85. This was not covered by insurance. Hopefully after the government study, the treatments will be covered by insurance.

The idea with chelation is that once it removes heavy metals it will begin removing plaque. You have to have good kidneys to do this since they will excreting all the junk.

hostalady said:

http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2002/chelation/pressrelease.htm
A 5 year study is currently being done. Will be completed in September 2008.
The link has all kinds of information.

Click to expand...

IV chelation.

There have been some very informative and helpful replies to my posts so far. I found some positive articles on IV chelation:

http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template.asp?ID=86

http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template.asp?ID=54

I am wondering if taking the substance sublingually or by suppository would be effective.

So for all the information I've found is supplied by doctors and vendors marketing the product. I'll be interested in the NIH report this September.

sis said:

The idea with chelation is that once it removes heavy metals it will begin removing plaque. You have to have good kidneys to do this since they will excreting all the junk.

Click to expand...

The only way that this could conceivably work is if the dissolved cations in the bloodstream are in a concentration equilibrium with the plaque. In other words, as EDTA takes the dissolved cations out of the bloodstream, more cations from the plaque dissolve into the bloodstream to statisfy the equilibrium concentration.

There are alot of statements on the internet supporting EDTA's ability to dissolve plaque. However, there is absolutely no way it can directly do this. If the plaque advantage is valid then it must be via an indirect mechanism like I stated above.

Not being a PhD I cannot carry on a decent conversation with one who is. :^)

All I know is with every heartbeat I used to hear a whooshing sound of blood trying to squeeze through my clogged carotid artery. This was most noticeable when I was lying on my right side in bed at night. Of course, at the time I didn't know what caused the sound; but after chelation and to this day I no longer hear that sound. Vascular tests substantiate the difference.

I don’t know how IV chelation works. It just works. The doctor will keep tabs on me and if necessary I would not hesitate to go through another series in the future. I fgure it is a lot less risky than by-pass surgery. . . or a heart attack.

sis said:

Not being a PhD I cannot carry on a decent conversation with one who is. :^)

Click to expand...

Personally, I would say you did OK.

sis said:

All I know is with every heartbeat I used to hear a whooshing sound of blood trying to squeeze through my clogged carotid artery. This was most noticeable when I was lying on my right side in bed at night. Of course, at the time I didn't know what caused the sound; but after chelation and to this day I no longer hear that sound. Vascular tests substantiate the difference.

I don’t know how IV chelation works. It just works. The doctor will keep tabs on me and if necessary I would not hesitate to go through another series in the future. I fgure it is a lot less risky than by-pass surgery. . . or a heart attack.

Click to expand...

My science background tends to make me a definition Nazi. So when someone says the word dissolve, it means something specific to me.

Glad to hear it has improved your health prospects. Hope it continues to do so.

Below is the latest news on EDTA chelation. I don't know if the study cited in the Bloomberg article is the one being conducted by the National Institute for Health (NIH) which is supposed to publish results next year from their mulit-year study.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-...xtract-metals-from-blood-cuts-heart-risk.html

Controversial Chemical Cocktail Cuts Heart Risk
By Michelle Fay Cortez - Nov 4, 2012 11:00 PM CT ..Facebook Share LinkedIn Google +1 1 Comment
Print QUEUEQ..Heart-attack survivors were less likely to have future cardiac complications after getting the cocktail of chemicals and vitamins known as chelation therapy, according to a U.S. government-funded study that immediately drew skepticism from top doctors in the field.

The treatment, in use for 50 years, is designed to extract metals such as iron from the blood. It combines 10 components, including the synthetic amino acid EDTA, vitamins B and C, electrolytes, a local anesthetic and the anti-clotting drug heparin. Despite a lack of scientific evidence proving its effectiveness, 111,000 Americans had the therapy in 2007, the latest year for which the U.S. has data.

The study, presented yesterday at the American Heart Association meeting in Los Angeles, found the therapy cut by 18 percent the risk of death, heart attack, stroke, repeat artery- clearing procedures and hospitalization. It was an “unexpected” result that will require more study, Gervasio Lamas, the report’s chief lead author, said in an interview.

“The most exciting part of this study is there is a potential signal of benefit,” said Lamas, chief of Columbia University’s division of cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida. “Everyone will need some time to understand and digest this study.”

Patients in the trial were given 40 infusions of chelation therapy. The first 30 doses were given once a week and took at least three hours to administer, a slow infusion designed to reduce the risk of side effects.

Diabetics Benefit
Thirty percent of patients enrolled in the study were diabetic and they derived the most benefit, with a 39 percent reduction in heart risk. There was no evidence that chelation reduced death rates. There were two unexpected severe side effects, including one death, in each of the treatment arms.

Mariell Jessup, medical director of the Penn Medicine Heart and Vascular Center, said it would take numerous studies with similar results to get cardiologists to embrace the approach.

Most of the benefit stemmed from a reduction in repeat procedures to restore blood flow to the heart, Jessup said in an interview. “This isn’t ready for prime time. It wasn’t convincing from a clinical standpoint.”

Instead of having the infusions, which cost about $5,000 for a course of therapy, people should go to the gym or have a dietician bring heart healthy meals to their house instead, Jessup said. “Why would they spend that money?”

The therapy is already widely used by alternative medicine providers, who first became aware of its potential because of a report that it reduced chest pain in 1956. A different type of chelation therapy is approved to remove metals like lead and iron from the bloodstream. The treatment used in the study isn’t formally approved in the U.S.

Federal Agencies
Two federal agencies shared the cost of the $31.6 million study: The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, both based in Bethesda, Maryland. The trial, which involved 1,708 heart attack patients, helped clarify the risks and benefits of the three-hour infusions, said Gary Gibbons, head of the heart institute in an interview.

“The study shows chelation can be administered in a way that is safe and where there is a clear but marginal benefit,” Gibbons said. “It’s an important first step, but it’s just a first step. More research needs to be done before it can join the mainstream of cardiovascular care.”

The study was originally designed to have 2,300 patients, with a three year enrollment. Instead, it took seven years, including a halt in September of 2008 while the forms used to disclose the potential risks to patients were reviewed and updated to include the possibility of death.

‘Steeped in Controversy’
“To suggest that this study is steeped in history and controversy would be an understatement,” said Paul Armstrong, a cardiologist at the University of Alberta and director of the Canadian coordinating center for global cardiovascular research. “These results are hypothesis generating, not practice changing,” Armstrong said at a press conference.

The study was a good use of the public’s money, Gibbons said. A lot of Americans are undergoing the treatment without any guidance or information about its risks, creating a lot of confusion and controversy, he said.

“We stand behind how it was executed and the data speaks for itself,” Gibbons said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michelle Fay Cortez in Minneapolis at mcortez@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

Have a look at Fulvic acid.

http://www.medicalinsider.com/toxicity3.html#fulvic

'Assisted Detoxification' Categories
Stimulating Your Lymphatic and Cardiovascular Circulation
Balancing Liver Function and Energy Levels during a Detoxification Programme
How detoxification fits into your overall programme

Detoxification Supplements and Techniques to Assist Cellular Detoxification

Absorbants Overview
Bentonite Clay - Internal and External Use
Zeolite / Clinoptilolite Powder
Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.)
Charcoal
Oral EDTA
Fibre - Chlorella, Alginate & Metachel
Beta Sitosterol
Cholestyramine and Welchol
Bacteria

Chelation
Introduction
Mechanism
Method of Administration: Intravenous, Anal and Oral
Categorisation - Chelation vs Mobilisation - What to Take and When
Low Frequent Dose Chelation - The Cutler Protocol
Toxicity of Certain Synthetic Chelating Agents
Comparative Studies and Reviews of Chelating Agents
Targetted Chelation by Heavy Metal
Use of Absorbants in Parallel
Balancing Chelation
Critics of Chelation Therapy
Proper Hydration
Demineralisation and Mineral Supplementation
Dosage
Over-Detoxification Side Effects
Frequency of Administration
Supporting Liver Function
Measuring the Progress of your Chelation Programme
Chelating Agent Reviews
Liquid Zeolite
Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) / Modified Alginate Complex (MAC)
Detoxamin (EDTA Suppositories)
OSR#1 - Oxidative Stress Relief
IP6
Mobilising/Chelating Combination Product Reviews
Fermented Peptides & Micronised Chlorella
PCA-Rx
Metal-Free
Matrix Metals
NDF and NDF Plus
Heavy Metal Nano Detox
Zeotrex
Lipo-Health
Mobilising Agent Reviews
Lipoic Acid
Thiamine TetrahydroFurfuryl Disulfide (TTFD)
Fulvic Acid and Humic Acid
Cilantro (Coriander Leaf)
General
Other Chelating/Mobilising Herbs
Mobilising Products containing Cilantro (Chelorex)

PHOSPHOLIPID THERAPY
Role of Phospholipids
Soy Lecithin
Oral Phosphatidyl Choline Supplementation
Concentration
Storage Considerations
Dosage Considerations
35% Phosphatidyl Choline
BodyBio PC
NT Factor
Phosphatidyl Serine
Citicoline CDP
Alpha GPC and Sphingomyelin
Soy Considerations - GMO and Phytoestrogens
Other Sources of Lecithin - Egg Yolk and Sunflower
Phospholipid Exchange (PLX) - IV Phosphatidyl Choline Infusions
Combining PLX with FIR Saunas

Light (EMR) Therapies
Introduction
FAR INFRARED (FIR) SAUNAS
What is FIR and how does it work?
Types of FIR Sauna
FIR Sauna Duration
Considerations for FIR Sauna Usage
Combining FIR Saunas with other Detoxification Protocols
Experimentation
Light Beam Generator (LBG) aka OAPD
LymphStar Pro
Lustre - Electro Lymphatic Drainage/Therapy (ELT)
Laser Energetic Detoxification (LED)
Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT)

Other Electromagnetic Stimulation
Foot Detox Patches and Tourmaline
Foot Detox Patches
Tourmaline Jewelry
Centrophenoxine / Meclofenoxate HCl

Example of a Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse

Kidney Stone Elimination

Skin Cleansing
Bentonite Clay Bath
'Mud' Pack
Skin Exfoliation
Skin Brushing
Himalayan Crystal Salt Bath
MSM Bath

Other Detoxification Methods
Detoxification Diets
Homeopathic Remedies

My husband had quadruple bypass surgery 2 and a half years ago. I believe that we were railroaded into that surgery and wish we had done more research before we did it. But what is done is done.

Last May he started the chelation therapy. He goes 2ce a week and it costs $130.00 a treatment. Not covered by insurance since it's not 'approved' by TPTB. He is about halfway through the treatment and I don't think he's had a test to see how well it's working yet.

We are lucky that it is only an hour and 15 minutes away from us because there aren't many centers that do it. People come from all over New England and NY for the treatments.

I have faith that it is working for him. Time will tell.

I, too, have read that IV EDTA therapy can and does help reverse some of the plaque buildup in the arteries. But the caveats were substantial, as well. For best results it must be undertaken through a physician who can order appropriate tests to monitor vital nutrients in the blood that the EDTA will indiscriminately sweep out with the bad stuff. In other words, if not properly overseen, it can kill you. And finding a physician that will actually do all that may be problematic....

willowlady said:

I, too, have read that IV EDTA therapy can and does help reverse some of the plaque buildup in the arteries. But the caveats were substantial, as well. For best results it must be undertaken through a physician who can order appropriate tests to monitor vital nutrients in the blood that the EDTA will indiscriminately sweep out with the bad stuff. In other words, if not properly overseen, it can kill you. And finding a physician that will actually do all that may be problematic....

Click to expand...

My husband gets IV minerals and vitamins after a certain number of chelation treatments, I'm not sure how many. They do urine tests before and after each treatment and there are blood tests done too. They keep close track of everything.

This is where he goes, http://www.northamptonwellness.com/

Pomegranite Juice Daily Reverses Atherosclerosis

Here's one of *thousands* of links.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/feb2007_report_pomegranate_01.htm

China Connection said:

Have a look at Fulvic acid.

http://www.medicalinsider.com/toxicity3.html#fulvic

'Assisted Detoxification' Categories
Stimulating Your Lymphatic and Cardiovascular Circulation
Balancing Liver Function and Energy Levels during a Detoxification Programme
How detoxification fits into your overall programme

Detoxification Supplements and Techniques to Assist Cellular Detoxification

Absorbants Overview
Bentonite Clay - Internal and External Use
Zeolite / Clinoptilolite Powder
Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.)
Charcoal
Oral EDTA
Fibre - Chlorella, Alginate & Metachel
Beta Sitosterol
Cholestyramine and Welchol
Bacteria

Chelation
Introduction
Mechanism
Method of Administration: Intravenous, Anal and Oral
Categorisation - Chelation vs Mobilisation - What to Take and When
Low Frequent Dose Chelation - The Cutler Protocol
Toxicity of Certain Synthetic Chelating Agents
Comparative Studies and Reviews of Chelating Agents
Targetted Chelation by Heavy Metal
Use of Absorbants in Parallel
Balancing Chelation
Critics of Chelation Therapy
Proper Hydration
Demineralisation and Mineral Supplementation
Dosage
Over-Detoxification Side Effects
Frequency of Administration
Supporting Liver Function
Measuring the Progress of your Chelation Programme
Chelating Agent Reviews
Liquid Zeolite
Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) / Modified Alginate Complex (MAC)
Detoxamin (EDTA Suppositories)
OSR#1 - Oxidative Stress Relief
IP6
Mobilising/Chelating Combination Product Reviews
Fermented Peptides & Micronised Chlorella
PCA-Rx
Metal-Free
Matrix Metals
NDF and NDF Plus
Heavy Metal Nano Detox
Zeotrex
Lipo-Health
Mobilising Agent Reviews
Lipoic Acid
Thiamine TetrahydroFurfuryl Disulfide (TTFD)
Fulvic Acid and Humic Acid
Cilantro (Coriander Leaf)
General
Other Chelating/Mobilising Herbs
Mobilising Products containing Cilantro (Chelorex)

PHOSPHOLIPID THERAPY
Role of Phospholipids
Soy Lecithin
Oral Phosphatidyl Choline Supplementation
Concentration
Storage Considerations
Dosage Considerations
35% Phosphatidyl Choline
BodyBio PC
NT Factor
Phosphatidyl Serine
Citicoline CDP
Alpha GPC and Sphingomyelin
Soy Considerations - GMO and Phytoestrogens
Other Sources of Lecithin - Egg Yolk and Sunflower
Phospholipid Exchange (PLX) - IV Phosphatidyl Choline Infusions
Combining PLX with FIR Saunas

Light (EMR) Therapies
Introduction
FAR INFRARED (FIR) SAUNAS
What is FIR and how does it work?
Types of FIR Sauna
FIR Sauna Duration
Considerations for FIR Sauna Usage
Combining FIR Saunas with other Detoxification Protocols
Experimentation
Light Beam Generator (LBG) aka OAPD
LymphStar Pro
Lustre - Electro Lymphatic Drainage/Therapy (ELT)
Laser Energetic Detoxification (LED)
Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT)

Other Electromagnetic Stimulation
Foot Detox Patches and Tourmaline
Foot Detox Patches
Tourmaline Jewelry
Centrophenoxine / Meclofenoxate HCl

Example of a Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse

Kidney Stone Elimination

Skin Cleansing
Bentonite Clay Bath
'Mud' Pack
Skin Exfoliation
Skin Brushing
Himalayan Crystal Salt Bath
MSM Bath

Other Detoxification Methods
Detoxification Diets
Homeopathic Remedies

Click to expand...

The page at that link has the most information on chelation detox that I have ever seen. Thanks CC.

If you have questions about chelation, you will likely find the answer there. There are many links throughout as well. Although it will take all day to go through it. lol.

Below is a synopsis of the NIH stdy on EDTA chelation:

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2013/nhlbi-26.htm


EDTA chelation therapy modestly reduces cardiovascular events
Share on emailShare on facebookShare on twitterChelation therapy, an unproven alternative medicine in the treatment for heart disease, modestly reduced cardiovascular events for adults aged 50 and older who had suffered a prior heart attack, according to new National Institutes of Health-supported research.

Results from the chelation arm of the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT), which will be published in the March 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that infusions of a form of chelation therapy using disodium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) reduced cardiovascular events by 18 percent compared to a placebo treatment. Investigators stated that more research is needed before considering routine use of chelation therapy for all heart attack patients. The EDTA-based chelation solution also contained high doses of vitamin C, B-vitamins, and other components.

Between 2002 and 2007, use of chelation therapy to treat heart disease and other diseases grew in the United States by nearly 68 percent to 111,000 people, according to the 2008 National Health Statistics Report. Chelation therapy removes heavy metals and minerals from the blood, such as lead, iron, copper, and calcium. Disodium EDTA is not approved by the FDA to treat heart disease, the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.

“This study sheds light on a scientific controversy that has previously been untested,” said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). “We now know more about the safety and efficacy of this therapy than we did before the study. Further research is needed to fully understand these results before this treatment can be applied to the routine clinical care of heart attack patients. We do not yet know whether this therapy can be applied to most people with heart disease, which patients may potentially benefit from it, or how it may work.”

From 2003 to 2010, TACT investigators enrolled 1,708 adults aged 50 and older at 134 sites in the United States and Canada. Study participants had suffered a heart attack six weeks or more before enrollment (average was about 4.5 years). They were assigned randomly to receive 40 infusions of either the disodium EDTA chelation solution or a placebo solution. Patients also were randomly assigned to receive high doses of oral vitamins and minerals or an identical oral placebo. Most participants also took standard medicines for heart attack survivors, such as aspirin, beta blockers, and statins. They were followed for a minimum of one year and up to five years, with follow-up ending in October 2011.

“The trial demonstrated that chelation therapy can be safely administered when rigid quality control parameters are in place, and that, under these conditions, therapy has modest benefits,” said Gervasio A. Lamas, M.D., the study’s principal investigator and chairman of Medicine and chief of the Columbia University Division of Cardiology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Fla. “Safety remained paramount throughout the course of the trial.”

The study assessed a composite primary endpoint that included death, recurrent heart attack, stroke, hospitalization for angina (chest pains sometimes indicating an impending heart attack), and coronary revascularization (coronary stenting or bypass surgery). The TACT investigators reported a clinically modest, but statistically significant, benefit of chelation therapy compared with placebo infusions. Fewer participants in the chelation group (222, or 26 percent) experienced cardiovascular events than did participants in the placebo group (261, or 30 percent). There was no statistically significant effect on mortality. The study was not designed to have enough patients to detect a difference in mortality.

Some subgroups of study participants, who were predefined at the start of the study, appeared to receive particular benefit from chelation therapy, specifically adults with diabetes, who constituted almost a third of the study population. Lamas noted that subgroup analyses cannot be considered conclusive, but can guide future research.

TACT was not designed specifically to discover how or why chelation might benefit heart attack patients, which limits the potential application of these results.

TACT was supported by grants from the NHLBI (U01HL092607) and the NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (U01AT001156).

For more information or to arrange an interview with an NIH spokesperson, please contact the NHLBI Communications Office at 301-496-4236 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov.To schedule an interview with Dr. Lamas, contact Joanna Palmer at 305-674-2600 or Joanna.Palmer@msmc.com.

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the mission of The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and alternative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care. For additional information, call NCCAM’s Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCAM website at http://nccam.nih.gov. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

I've been taking EDTA capsules for several years. I buy them in bulk on Ebay and keep them in the freezer in a big ziplock bag. I started taking them right after Tim Russert died in 2008 (infarction of the "Widowmaker" coronary artery). I noticed a difference in my cardiac capacity at the gym within two weeks. I buy the AmerMed 800mg capsules. The first year I took two per day, and occasionally experienced leg and foot cramps from calcium depletion. When that occurred I would take a couple of calcium pills, but only if bananas weren't sufficient. Now I take two capsules per day three months each year and revert to a maintenance dose of one capsule per day for the other nine months. I recently took a stress test at my cardiologist's office and got my heart rate up to 171 (I'm 59 years old and overweight).

"I've been taking EDTA capsules for several years. I buy them in bulk on Ebay and keep them in the freezer in a big ziplock bag. I started taking them right after Tim Russert died in 2008 (infarction of the "Widowmaker" coronary artery). I noticed a difference in my cardiac capacity at the gym within two weeks. I buy the AmerMed 800mg capsules."

AmerMed is the cheapest vendor for EDTA capsules, especially if you buy it by the case. Another option is to buy the bulk powder from PureBulk dot com. 500 grams (over a pound) of EDTA Calcium Disodium is a little over $30. Get the little Capsule Machine with the 00 size capsules and make your own EDTA capsules. Make sure it is the EDTA with calcium as plain EDTA strips calcium from the blood.

Be advised, accidental IV EDTA treatments without the calcium has killed people due to heart stoppage. An alternate, natural form of chelation is to make a cilantro pesto and spread it on some bread or pasta.

According to the only American scientist to win more than one Nobel science prize, most atherosclerosis results from chronic vitamin C deficiency. USRDA of 60 or so milligrams of vitamin C is enough to keep gums from bleeding and obvious gross or large scale deficiency problems. To prevent little pinholes from developing in the high pressure vessels around the heart requires rather more vitamin C daily for most people.

The body responds to tiny leaks in vessels by flooding the system with what are essentially little blobs of sticky cholesterol. These collect around the edges of the leaks and form a sticky mass sealing the leak. Over time if the now blocked pinholes are not healed they slowly calcify. This process results in plaques, thickening of walls and blockages. Depending on location these buildups can lead to heart attacks or strokes.

Linus Pauling suggested around 5,000 milligrams or more a day to prevent breakdown and leakage of vessels around the heart and brain and to heal damage that has already occurred. This prevents most additional blockages.

He also suggests similar amounts of lecithin to help clear plaques and blockages.

An optometrist photographing retina details noticed over the years that cholesterol and plaque blocked the tiny vessels on the retina. Over time he realised that he could pretty much predict either stroke or heart attack by the amount of capillary blockage visible in the eye. He started clearing the visible blockages by suggesting large amounts of vitamin C. When the visible capillaries were clear the heart attack and stroke rate plummeted also.

Your mileage may vary.

http://www.whale.to/a/fonorow.html

http://www.paulingtherapy.com/