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Hi everyone, just though I might contribute to the discussion on chelation,
and add a little to the recent post by Ellen Switkes.  I think Ellen was
correct in her summary of what chelation does.  It was developed around the
time of the first world war to treat soldiers who had been poisoned
(largely by lead) during that conflict.  I think it worked reasonably well
and many treated soldiers were able to return to the front lines to be
killed by a more direct method.  The substance used (EthyleneDiamineTetra-
Acetic acid, or EDTA) was indeed developed to bind some substances and
enable their easy removal from the body.  It (EDTA) is widely used in
today's research labs as a means of "cleaning up" solutions used in
biological studies, particularly to remove calcium from solution
(scientists usually need to know exactly how much calcium is in the
solution that bathes their experimental tissues, since calcium is so
critical to many cellular processes).  Of course, whether chelation therapy
works in the way it is sometimes promoted remains open to debate.  I think
an important point to mention is that, as long as it is not over used, it
is probably not harmful.  Recent evidence, however, suggests that it may be
of little use to those with some vascular problems (see below).  As always,
we have to review the evidence and make up our own minds.
 
The following summary comes from a recent study done here, in Dunedin. I
guess this means that therapy must be legally available here in NZ, and I
suspect it is elsewhere also.
 
 van Rij AM, Solomon C, Packer SG, Hopkins WG, Department of Surgery,
      University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand.
 Chelation therapy for intermittent claudication. A double-blind,
      randomized, controlled trial [see comments].
 Circulation 1994 Sep;90(3):1194-9
 BACKGROUND: The use of repeated intravenous infusions of EDTA, which
      has become known as "chelation therapy," has been promoted for
      treating intermittent claudication as well as a wide range of other
      disorders. Multiple reports of excellent results in large numbers of
      patients have encouraged the use of this regimen. The lack of
      well-controlled studies substantiating the benefits of this
      treatment has limited its use mainly to private clinics. The aim of
      the study was to assess the benefits of chelation therapy in
      patients with intermittent claudication. METHODS AND RESULTS: A
      double-blind, randomized, controlled trial included 32 patients with
      intermittent claudication who were randomized to a treatment group
      (15) and a control group (17). Main outcome measures were subjective
      and measured walking distances and ankle/brachial pulse indices.
      Other outcome measures included lifestyle and subjective parameters
      of improvement, cardiac function, ECG, renal function, hematology,
      blood glucose, and lipid biochemistry. No clinically significant
      differences in main outcome measures between chelation therapy and
      placebo groups were detected up to 3 months after treatment.
      Measures of mood state, activities of daily living, and quality of
      life factors were not consistently affected by chelation therapy. An
      equal proportion (13%) of each group thought that they had received
      the active agent. The proportion of patients showing an improvement
      in walking distance was not significantly different between the
      chelation group (60%) and the control group (59%). CONCLUSIONS:
      Chelation therapy has no significant beneficial effects over placebo
      in patients with intermittent claudication.
 
Hope this is helpful
Phil
 
Philip Sheard
Developmental Biology Unit,
Department of Physiology,
University of Otago Medical School,
Dunedin, New Zealand.
Ph (64 3) 479-7344
Fax (64 3) 479-7323