Research Chelation Therapy

Chelating agents were introduced into medicine as a result of the use of poison gas in World War I. The first widely used chelating agent, the organic dithiol compound dimercaprol (also named British Anti-Lewisite or BAL), was used as an antidote to the arsenic-based poison gas, Lewisite. The sulphur atoms in BAL’s mercaptan groups strongly bond to the arsenic in Lewisite, forming a water-soluble compound that entered the bloodstream, allowing it to be removed from the body by the kidneys and liver. BAL had severe side-effects, such as nephrotoxicity and hypertension.

Following World War II, a large number of Navy personnel suffered from lead poisoning as a result of their jobs repainting the hulls of ships. The medical use of EDTA as a lead chelating agent was introduced. Unlike BAL, it is a synthetic amino acid and contains no mercaptans. EDTA side effects were not considered as severe as BAL.

In the 1960s, BAL was modified into DMSA, a related dithiol with far fewer side effects. DMSA quickly replaced both BAL and EDTA, becoming the US standard of care for the treatment of lead, arsenic, and mercury poisoning, which it remains today.

Research in the former Soviet Union led to the introduction of DMPS, another dithiol, as a mercury-chelating agent. The Soviets also introduced ALA, which is transformed by the body into the dithiol dihydrolipoic acid, a mercury- and arsenic-chelating agent. DMPS has experimental status in the US FDA, while ALA is a common nutritional supplement.

Since the 1970s, iron chelation therapy has been used as an alternative to regular phlebotomy to treat excess iron stores in people with haemochromatosis. It is also at the forefront of clinical autism treatment.

Other chelating agents have been discovered. They all function by making several chemical bonds with metal ions, thus rendering them much less chemically reactive. The resulting complex is water-soluble, allowing it to enter the bloodstream and be excreted harmlessly.

Calcium-disodium EDTA chelation is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating lead poisoning and heavy metal toxicity.

In 1998, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pursued the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM), an organization that promotes “complementary, alternative and integrative medicine” over their advertising of EDTA chelation therapy, with claims including “Chelation therapy is a safe, effective and relatively inexpensive treatment to restore blood flow in victims of atherosclerosis without surgery.” The FTC found that “scientific studies do not prove that EDTA chelation therapy is an effective treatment for atherosclerosis.”, and that the statements by the ACAM were false. In 1999, the ACAM agreed to stop misrepresenting chelation therapy as effective in treating heart disease, avoiding legal proceedings.

It seems there is some confusion these days as to who the true experts on treating autism are. With so many experimental new drugs, treatments and behavioral therapies, both seasoned doctors (who’ve found a new niche specializing in autism treatment) as well as coalitions of parents and naturopaths are vying for a place being recognized for making great leaps in treating autism.

The Chicago Tribune, for one, has been busy casting aspersions on the legitimacy of the “crusades” of apparent non-AMA doctors, experts, activists, etc.  Specfically, those led by Dr. Mayer Eisenstein and Dr. Mark Geier and his son David.

One of the issues in their recent stories is the use of Lupron to treat aggression in autistic children who have high levels of testosterone — a move which has been hugely controversial.  The treatment is slammed as “unproven and potentially damaging” in the Tribune. Another of their attacks goes: “In the absence of definitive answers, unproven treatments have proliferated, including diets that eliminate wheat and dairy, chelation drugs that leach metals out of the body, and treatment in hyperbaric oxygen chambers similar to those used to treat scuba divers with ‘the bends.’ ”

But what does the Chicago Tribune know, really? Do they have a team of staff doctors and scientists with real medical facts to trump these experimental new forays, or simply just…cynicism on their side? It seems the establishment has taken great pride in bashing anything that doesn’t bow to Big Pharma’s vaccination agenda.

Will there be a new “autism vaccine” coming out from our friends in the industry soon? I don’t think the parents, doctors and scientists who actually want to see true remedy from the dual spikes in vaccines and autism will really care. They’ll be too busy doing real scientific work aimed at getting these kids detoxed and free of epidemic neuropathies such as autism.

Chelation has shown positive results. See for yourself at www.AwakenNutrition.com

Chelation and clathration both facilitate the removal of heavy metal compounds from the body. But there are some distinct differences between the two. Although both techniques “neutralize” toxic heavy metals in the bloodstream, and orient them toward elimination from the body, the structure of the two differs to some extent.

If chelation (the term is from the Greek phrase for “claw like”) grabs onto the heavy metal compound and pulls it out of the body, clathration forms a “cage” which incorporates the offending compound into its own structure, effectively (if the process works according to maximum efficacy) imprisoning the substance and escorting it out via the elimination process.

Another difference is that chelation can be thought of as a more one dimensional process, where clathration is a more three dimensional one. In clathration, specifically-sequenced glycoproteins and peptides form a lattice or inclusion complex and multiple receptor sites attach to a toxic molecule with irreversible bonds, literally wrapping themselves around the toxic substance, preventing additional reactions with tissues and organs as it is eliminated from the body.

Chelation has been used since World War I, when it was developed to remove toxic gas particulates from the blood. Clathration is a much more recent discovery.

The similarities are obvious — both disable toxic heavy metal compounds. Both are utilized by various clinicians who are now engaged in progressive study and treatment of autism and autism-related disorders, such as Asberger’s and Rett Syndrome.  Both have produced varying degrees of results within the bodies of patients and test subjects.

There is no doubt that we will be hearing much about these two procedures in coming years where concerns treating heavy metal toxicity and autism and autism-related disorders.