IV chelation therapy
IV chelation is a process that uses intravenous infusion to remove unwanted substances from the body. Patients receive IV's containing agents that bind with unwanted chemicals in the body and turn into chemical compounds the body can excrete.
Alternative medicine practitioners, like Dr. Elmer Cranton and Dr. Stephanie Cave, co-author of "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations," say chelation can be used to treat heart disease, autism and other illnesses. These claims have yet to be confirmed by traditional medical practice.
Chelation Protocols
Intravenous chelation involves infusing a patient with a chelating agent mixed with saline. Lipoic acid is used as a chelating agent for mercury. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, commonly called EDTA, is frequently used to chelate lead from the blood of children and adults who have been exposed to high levels of the heavy metal.
Chelation usually takes two to three hours and is relatively painless. A patient sits in a chair, the IV is inserted and the infusion is administered. The body will eliminate the chelating agent and the toxin through urine and feces over a period of days.
Controversial Treatment of Heart Disease
Arteriosclerosis is a general term for the thickening and hardening of the arteries caused by plaque. Some hardening of the arteries is natural as people age, but for some people, the rate of plaque buildup is accelerated. Plaque can cause heart attacks by breaking off and blocking the blood that flows into the heart. It can cause stroke by blocking arteries that feed the brain. Plaque is composed of fats, cholesterol, platelets and calcium.
EDTA and other chelating agents are capable of binding with calcium, a major component of plague in the arteries. Doctors of alternative medicine, like those at the Arkansas Center for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, say IV chelation can break down the calcium in artery walls, reducing the plaque that may cause heart attacks and strokes.
However, the American Heart Association rejects claims that chelation is an effective treatment for heart disease, although it continues to investigate claims that the treatment works.
Chelation for Autism
Organizations like the Autism Research Institute see a link that mercury used in childhood vaccines and found in the environment causes or contributes to autism in some children.
However, claims that vaccines cause autism and that chelation therapy can cure it have been rejected by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control.
To Get Chelation Therapy
Contact your doctor and discuss the symptoms you believe require treatment. Take any tests he orders to accurately diagnose heavy metal poisoning, heart disease or autism. Discuss your interest in chelation therapy with your doctor and determine if it is a treatment you wish to take. If it is, and your doctor will not provide it, you can search for an alternative medicine provider who specializes in chelation therapy at www.alternativesforhealing.com.
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