Chelation Therapy Reduces Heart Attacks & Death

Chelation is a chemical process in which a substance is delivered intravenously, to bind and subsequently remove specific atoms of metals and minerals. Use of chelation therapy to treat heart disease and other health problems rose in the United States between 2002 and 2007 by nearly 68%, according to the 2008 National Health Statistics Report. A team of researchers Involved in the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) study previously reported that infusions of a form of chelation therapy using disodium ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) produced a modest but statistically significant reduction in cardiovascular events in all EDTA-treated participants. However, further examination of the data showed that patients with diabetes were significantly impacted by chelation therapy while patients without diabetes were not.  The patients with diabetes, which made up approximately one third of 1,708 participants, demonstrated a 41% overall reduction in the risk of any cardiovascular event; a 40% reduction in the risk of death from heart disease nonfatal stroke, or nonfatal heart attack; a 52% reduction in recurrent heart attacks; and a 43% reduction in death from any cause. The study authors report that: "Post–myocardial infarction patients with diabetes mellitus aged 50 [years old] demonstrated a marked reduction in cardiovascular events with EDTA chelation. These findings support efforts to replicate these findings and define the mechanisms of benefit.”