Hello @mark430,

Living in an age of information-overload, it is so difficult to determine what is safe or real and what is not! I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice, but as a moderator on Connect I would be remiss if I did not share my concerns about chelation therapy. While there is a legitimate medical use for chelation therapy – as treatment for toxic metal poisoning – it has gained notoriety as a treatment for many other conditions like heart disease, atherosclerosis.

According to Mayo Clinic, "The safety and effectiveness of chelation therapy for heart disease can't be determined, even after a large-scale study was conducted to determine just that. Results of TACT didn't provide enough evidence to support routine use of chelation therapy for heart disease.” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/expert-answers/chelation-therapy/faq-20157449

Some important, but overlooked facts from The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health div. of NIH (one of the sponsors of TACT) https://nccih.nih.gov/health/chelation

– Overall, TACT showed that chelation therapy produced only modest reduction in cardiovascular events. However, further examination of the data showed that therapy benefitted only those patients with diabetes. There was no significant benefit of EDTA treatment in participants who didn’t have diabetes.
– Among the patients receiving chelation, 26% went on to have a cardiovascular event, such as death, heart attack or stroke.
– 16% of those receiving chelation and 15% who were receiving the placebo stopped their infusions because of an adverse event. Four of those events were serious; 2 were in the chelation group (1 death) and 2 were in the placebo group (1 death).
– Dept. of Health and Human Services cited several concerns about the study, including that the researchers hadn't followed the rules.
– In 2006, the CDC reported that two children and one adult had died after receiving chelation. They all developed dangerously low calcium levels, which can cause the heart to stop beating.

At the risk of inundating you with more reading, I think this journal article might also interest you:
– Why the NIH Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) Should Be Abandoned https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2438277/

In the constant search for "living our best life” or following popular (often misleading) trends like "natural equals safe,” I myself have given in to the temptations of anecdotal evidence (oh the joys of non-diet related weight loss supplements:) – rather than waiting for tedious, sometimes inconclusive, but often factually correct clinical evidence. So when considering complementary or alternative treatments, it is best to be be open-minded yet skeptical–making treatment decisions based on poor-quality scientific data can be dangerous, especially when it concerns heart disease.

@mark430, I will continue to research this topic to provide resources, and I’m so glad to read that you will consult your cardiologist about chelation. I’m tagging Mentors @hopeful33250 and @predictable and fellow members @thankful @mdemoI @surf362 , and look forward to hearing more from you.

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