What is the history of Chelation Therapy? In 1893 Alfred Werner the French-Swiss chemist developed the theory of coordination compounds, it is today referred to as Chelates. For this major landmark in reclassifying inorganic compounds he received the Nobel Prize in 1913. Werner went on to create accounting for the process by which metals bind to organic molecules, which formed the basis for the chemistry of chelation. The history of Chelation Therapy begins….
The History of Chelation Therapy in Industry
In the 1920?s, new materials such as lead based paints were introduced and in the manufacture the elimination of heavy metals contamination was crucial. Citric acid was first used and found to be helpful. Come the mid 1930?s Germany was working to develop its own chelating substance so as not to be dependent on importing citric acid. The synthetic substance they invented was EDTA (Ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetate). EDTA gained such a reputation that they also started selling it on the global market for industrial use.
History of EDTA Chelation in Medical Use
Medical applications had not yet being considered for EDTA, but with the war looming military workers were afraid of poison gas being used so they searched for solutions. The United Kingdom had experienced poison gas in World War I and at Oxford University researchers invented their own chelating substance to lessen the effects of exposure to poison gas.
Post World War II the new threat was atomic warfare and the USA began producing large quantities of EDTA which was thought to be more effective than the British chelation substance.
While the manufacture of EDTA for protection against radioactive fallout was in progress nobody paid attention to the first medical application of EDTA carried out in 1947 by Dr. Charles Geschickter at Georgetown University Medical Center. And so the history of Chelation Therapy in medical use begins. A patient who had been undergoing chemotherapy had accumulated toxic nickel complexes in her body. In trying to save her, Dr. Geschickter thought of Ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acetate as the only thing that could work and he successfully used it. This did not at the time however lead to widespread use.
Chelation Therapy & Lead Poisoning
In the 1950s EDTA was tried with equal success for people who had lead poisoning, the US Navy used it on people who had contracted lead poisoning from repainting old ships, it was also used for people who had lead poisoning from working in battery plants. In both instances not only did EDTA eliminate the poisoning, but patients were relieved of arteriosclerosis, chest pains, arthritis, memory loss and the inability to concentrate. Hearing of these improvements a heart specialists from Wayne State University used EDTA on a group of patients that were believed to have incurable conditions, even the most seriously ill of the group were restored to near normality.
From the 1950s many doctors continued to utilise chelation therapy in many medical applications with great success.
Published articles regarding successful treatment of arteriosclerosis with Chelation began appearing in medical journals in 1955. In 1973 the American Academy of Medical Preventics ( later renamed the Academy of the Advancement of Medicine) was initiated to educate physicians and promote chelation therapy in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. In 1983 the formation of the American Board of Chelation Therapy was formed to set parameters for the education and testing of physicians for competence in the administration of chelation.
Approvals of Chelation
Chelation, while absolutely legal is limited in advertising claims for the treatment of lead poisoning, hypercalcaemia and ventricular fibrillation secondary to digitalis toxicity. Even though this evidence exists surprisingly it has not been approved for claims other than these. Dr. Ray Evers in 1978 won a precedent case regarding a physician’s use of an approved drug for a specific condition which may be used for another condition for which it has not been approved.
Many arguments exist over why it cannot be approved for these conditions however at the forefront is little financial gain and a huge threat to the multi billion dollar heart bypass industry, it is a sad fact that as always money is the root of the problem, even if it can save lives. It is most unfortunate that the patent on EDTA expired in 1969, resulting in the loss of interest in research by major drug companies.
Chelation for Alternative Medicine
People who use chelation therapy are generally those who already have heart disease or wish to implement preventative measures. Many of the bypass operations performed today are totally unnecessary as a decade of scientific study has shown, except of course in certain well defined situations bypass surgery does not save lives or even prevent heart attacks. Among patients who suffer from coronary artery disease those who are treated without surgery enjoy the same survival rates as those who undergo heart surgery. MD Magazine, Feb. 1995.
Many diabetics and macular degeneration patients believe that by using chelation it helps increase their peripheral circulation. The Tact Trials which concluded in 2012 showed 39% fewer cardiac events for diabetics who took Chelation Therapy.
Every year, prescribed drugs and hospital errors result in many unnecessary deaths. There are no recorded deaths with Chelation therapy and modern medicine has the benefit of a long history of chelation in many application, those who specialize in it are sure of what it can do and the best ways of using it, yet still so many people are unaware of it, it’s all wrong and unfair!
The American College of Advancement of Medicine (ACAM), estimates are that at least 500,000 patients have received over 10,000,000 chelation treatments without a single fatality attributed to it. This cannot be said about surgical procedures or even taking an Aspirin. In conclusion it is fair to say that the history of Chelation Therapy probably goes back a lot longer than you thought!