What is Chelation Therapy?
Chelation therapy is a treatment that helps cleanse the body of harmful heavy metals such as mercury and lead. These metals enter our body through things we are exposed to in our environment.
Mercury for example can come from dental fillings, eating contaminated fish, vaccines, from breathing air from coal burning power plants, adhesives, air conditioner filters, fabric softeners, felt, floor waxes-polishes, fungicides, paints, photoengraving, psoriatic ointments and more.
Lead from contaminated drinking water; hair dyes, insecticides, lead crystal dishes and glassware, lead water pipes, liver, mascara, milk, evaporated milk, porcelain glazed sinks and bathtubs, toothpaste, toys, vinyl mini-blinds and more.
Symptoms of heavy metal poisoning:
- Alcohol intolerance
- Allergies (environmental and food sensitivities)
- Anxious and irritable
- Brain fog
- Cannot lose weight
- Chronic unexplained pain
- Coated tongue
- Cold hands and feet
- Dark circles under the eyes
- Depression
- Digestive problems
- Extreme fatigue
- Frequent colds and flus
- Headaches
- High levels of toxic metals in your blood, urine or tissues
- Insomnia
- Intolerance to medications & vitamins
- Loss of memory and forgetfulness
- Low body temperature
- Metallic taste in mouth
- Muscle and joint pain
- Muscle tics or twitches
- Muscle tremors
- Night sweats
- Parasites
- Prone to mood swings
- Prone to rashes
- Sensitive teeth
- Sensitive to smells like tobacco smoke, perfumes, paint fumes and chemical odors
- Skin problems
- Small black spots on your gums
- Sore or receding gums
- Tingling in the extremities
- Unsteady gait
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Chelation in detail:
Several different chelating agents are used to pull heavy metals out of the body. EDTA, ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid, is one. EDTA features four carboxylic acid and two amine groups that can all bind to metals. It attracts the metals, attaches to them, and pulls them out of the body. EDTA is never broken down in the body; it goes in and comes out as EDTA. DMPS, dimercapto propane sulfonate, is used preferentially for elevated body burden of mercury, since it binds more tightly to mercury than EDTA. On the other hand, EDTA binds lead better than DMPS. DMSA, dimercapto succinic acid, is an oral sulfur-containing chelating agent which also has a high binding coefficient for mercury. It is approved by the FDA for removing lead and mercury from the brains of children with lead or mercury poisoning; it is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. Chelating agents have a half-life of several hours. Their effectiveness comes from consecutive administration of consistent dosages, not from the magnitude of the dose.
Removal of heavy metals is preferably done with intravenous (IV) therapy. The chelating agent can also be done orally – take a pill. The oral form is appropriate for children, for persons with poor vein structure, persons who live far away, and for those who have very low levels of metals.
The IV method is more effective because it gives higher levels of the chelating agent. EDTA, for example, is poorly absorbed by the GI tract. The IV actually delivers EDTA to the cells.
If you are suffering from symptoms of heavy metal poisoning contact the office of Dr. Rachel West to schedule your consultation today.