Here is an article posted on the web by Arline Brecher.
This article represents the now-proven-false claims by the officers and directors of ACAM that "oral EDTA" is useless. I, Karl Loren, was taken in by this story, and even helped spread this story when I believed it to be true.
Click here to read an astonishing expose of the deliberate suppression of information about the benefits of "oral EDTA."
So, the story below if false! I quote it as an example of how logical false stories like this can sound -- particularly when coming from authoritative sources.
It isn't often that a phone call triggers this big a reaction, but I've just received too many calls lately (all alarmingly similar to the one I'm about to tell you about) to allow a spreading scam continue without sounding off. The caller identified herself as a chelation patient who wanted advice.
"I've had a heart attack," she began her tale, "and the doctors wanted to operate, but since I've heard about people who got chelated instead - and then didn't need surgery - I decided to give that a try first."
"So, how's it going? I asked.
"Well, I've only had about five treatments so far, but it seems to be helping. I've got more energy; my color's better; I'm not taking pain pills the way I did a few weeks ago - I guess it's working."
"So, what's the problem?"
"Well, you know it's a two hour drive each way to get to the nearest chelation doctor. I've looked around. There's no one closer."
"And you don't like him?"
"Oh, no. He's fine. But it's just so inconvenient to spend all that time driving, and sitting around being chelated, and it's expensive, too. You know. My insurance won't pay for it."
"But, I thought you were pleased at the chance of avoiding a major operation. What's your alternative?"
"Well, that's why I'm calling. Tell me. What do you think about oral chelation?"
"What have you heard?" I asked, knowing full well what she'd tell me.
"I've heard that it's the very same thing - that you can take these pills - they've got EDTA in them, you know - and you can save all that time and money and trouble and get chelated just the same, right out of a bottle."
"And where did you hear about this?" I asked.
"I read about it in a magazine ad, and then someone sent me a tape, and an order blank for a month's supply of the pills, and it sounds so good, I'd kind of like to try it. You know the chelation doctor I go to has me taking lots of vitamins - maybe that's what's making me feel better. Maybe I'd get the same benefit out of just the pills, without bothering with the injections. What do you think?"
Before I tell you how I answered that caller and all others like her, let me ask you: "What do you think?" Have you been led to believe that so-called "oral chelation" in a pill is "the same as" intravenous chelation with EDTA?
If so, you've been hoodwinked by a clever marketing scheme and it's time someone exposed this greedy scam. I've seen the ads; I've read the copy; and it's clear that the carefully worded descriptions of these products are calculated to deceive the unwary. Worse of all, their appeal is to the very people who need chelation therapy - 'the real stuff' - the most.
Let me quote from ad copy on my desk: "Is There a Heart Attack in Your Future?" is the way it starts, then continues to accurately describe the history and remarkable benefits of intravenous chelation therapy with EDTA Then, the ad copy continues by reporting the "bad news" - that good as chelation is, it's time consuming, can be "hard on the system" if not administered properly, and costs about three thousand dollars.
But wait. There's "good news" - as this company claims to have developed an "Oral Chelation" product in tablet form that is "state of the art" and an "extremely effective alternative to I.V. Chelation at about 10% of the cost AND about 100% more convenient." How irresistible.
To make matters worse, there's an M.D.'s picture, statement and signature endorsing the product - a chelating physician, at that - and a product label that shows that 10 tablets a day provide, along with a long list of nutrients - the clincher, in heavy bold type, "150 mg of Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid (EDTA)."
So, what's going on here? Over the years, we've been repeatedly asked about oral chelation. Understandably so. How much easier it would be if we could pop a pill or two each day and avoid the hassle of a series of two to three hour infusions.
As we point out in Forty Something Forever: The Consumer's Guide to Chelation Therapy, "no such luck. EDTA doesn't work in the digestive tract. If it did we could get chelated just by spreading extra mayonnaise (which is preserved with the addition of EDTA) on our salads. The more popular 'real' chelation becomes, the more magnificent pretenders appear on the market. Who says these EDTA-containing supplements are a scam?
Dr. Bruce Dooley, M.D., President of the Florida Association for Medical Advancement, for one. As one of the founding members of this state-wide organization of holistic practitioners, Dr. Dooley devotes many hours to protecting patients and therapists from the destructive potential of the fast-buck artists trying to cash in on chelation's new-found popularity.
As Dr. Dooley explained: "To begin with, it helps to know that nutritional supplementation is indeed a vital part of the established protocol for IV chelation therapy - and for good reason. First, because EDTA does chelate beneficial as well as toxic elements out of the body during therapy, and they need to be replaced. Second, because most patients needing chelation are nutritionally deficient and require an individualized supplement program carefully designed to correct imbalances and restore health.
"Do vitamins 'chelate'? In one sense, they do, since many anti-oxidants help the body eliminate toxic build-up. However, it can take many years for even the best nutritional program to undo the severe atherosclerotic buildup that so often precedes a heart attack. In most cases, the over-forty crowd doesn't have twenty or more years to 'eat' their way back to good health. IV chelation therapy is a life-saver - it buys the seriously afflicted the time they need to reverse a life-threatening condition. To suggest that the same benefits can be derived from a pill is so outrageous, I've asked the FDA to investigate these misleading claims."
Michigan's Dr. James Nutt, a founding member and former president of the Great Lakes Association of Clinical Medicine, agrees and said: "Unscrupulous entrepreneurs and even some health care professionals led by avarice, greed and ego have mounted a very expensive, high profile campaign against the unsuspecting public, which is demanding more and more alternative forms of medicine.
"Ads which claim any product is as effective as EDTA chelation therapy is patently fraudulent, as it is not backed up by any study, while the effectiveness of genuine IV chelation was proven in the mid-80's with a study that included 20,000 patients."
And finally this from Dr. L. Terry Chappell, M.D., past president of GLACM and currently president of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine, a 25 year old international organization of over 600 holistic clinicians:
"Recently, across the country, companies selling oral products containing vitamins, minerals and EDTA have made false, unsubstantiated claims that 'oral chelation' results in the same benefits as intravenous chelation in treating vascular disease. While there are hundreds of articles in the scientific literature about the effectiveness of IV EDTA in improving heart disease and peripheral and carotid artery blockages, there is not one study that documents that oral EDTA is absorbed enough to be helpful.
"In fact, the 95% of oral EDTA which is not absorbed carries into the stool a good amount of the beneficial minerals that were placed in the product. Any benefit from these oral products would have to come from the remaining vitamins and minerals which are not pulled out of the body by the EDTA.
"In other words, vitamin pills containing EDTA may be worse than worthless - if the EDTA does anything at all, it works against the worthwhile minerals everyone needs."
"It's more serious than that," Dr. Dooley summed up. "Many high risk cardiac and stroke patients opt for chelation therapy instead of undergoing bypass surgery. These seriously ill people almost always do very well with EDTA IV chelation - but - if they are deceived by this baloney that oral chelation is 'just as good', someone may die as a result. These scam artists are playing with dynamite and if my worst fears come to pass, hundreds of thousands of people will suffer when legitimate chelation is tarnished and condemned in the scandal that will erupt."
For information on how to find a highly trained specialist who administers IV EDTA in a responsible manner, contact the American College of Advancement in Medicine at (800) 532-3688, or the Great Lakes Association of Clinical Medicine at (800) 286-6013 or call (800) 799-9355 to take a "Chelation Vacation in Florida" with the help of a skilled and knowledgeable FAMA doc.
Click Here to Read the Truth Comments? Questions? E-mail to abrecher@arxc.comCopyright © 1995 Health Savers
If you missed it, you can go to either a SHORT explanation of the whole story, or a detailed explanation on ONE PAGE. On this page you are getting more detail on one part of the story, but on either of those pages you can get the broad picture. Don't miss reading one of them. You can actually spend many hours on this web site, depending on the depth of research and reading you want to do. There are an amazing 4,000 pages here -- more information on these general subjects than almost all other web sites combined! At some point along the way you will probably say, "Karl's crazy," and leave never to return to this site, or you will say "I want to try some of that oral chelation formula he writes about!"
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