Chelation Therapy
Chelation
Detoxifying the Heart
Progressive cardiologists
have known for decades that intravenous chelation therapy can clear
clogged arteries and help prevent heart disease—now chelation can be
given orally.
Is this the advent of angioplasty in a pill?
By Richard Leviton
Angioplasty is a fairly brutal way
of mechanically "scrubbing" the inside of clogged arteries
with an inflated balloon catheter to flatten deposits of plaque that
have thickened to the point of being dangerous to health. The balloon
momentarily expands t he artery allowing more blood to pass.
The goal is to prevent heart attacks and
reduce the risk of heart disease, both of which abound today. Statistics
tell us that throughout the 20th century the average American's heart
has been growing progressively sicker.
Nutritionally inadequate diets, toxins,
pollutants, physical inactivity, smoking, and other factors have
resulted in an estimated 57 million Americans currently suffering from
life-threatening heart conditions. In the U.S., heart disease now
accounts for ten out of every 24 deaths annually, or about 42% of all
deaths.
The data on heart disease, both its
incidence and cost, is not only alarming, but should mobilize concerned
individuals to look for effective alternatives to maintaining a healthy
heart and preventing heart disease. Coronary artery bypass surgery,
balloon angioplasty, even heart transplants, are now routinely performed
for Americans with clogged arteries, but the costs are enormous, the
risks are high, and the benefits are often short-lived, requiring yet
more medical intervention, more money, and more risk. Surely there's
another way.
Since as early as 1948, forward-thinking
American cardiologists have known about a minimally invasive, highly
effective procedure called chelation therapy as a way of accomplishing
what angioplasty does, and more.
[Karl: I think it is very
optimistic to suggest that ANY cardiologists have ever recommended
"chelation therapy." If this is true, I would be
delighted, but I don't know of ANY!
Chelation therapy, comprising a series
of intravenous infusions of substances that remove plaque deposits and
other harmful materials, [Karl:
This is a common error -- it perpetuates itself. the intravenous
infusion does NOT remove plaque. As I've written so many times,
this is just a "cave-in" to the standard lies so many people
believe to be true.
including heavy metals, [Karl:
You see that he does include the actual mechanism of chelation therapy
(heavy metals) as if it were IN ADDITION to removing plaque, but this
removal of plaque claim is not valid and sets the public up for thinking
that there is a mechanism of removal of plaque, when there is not.
from the arteries, has
been performed on an estimated 700,000 individuals of whom between 75
and 90% have benefited with improved cardiovascular health.
Its proponents have championed
intravenous chelation therapy, especially when coupled with nutritional
supplementation and dietary changes, as foremost among alternative
approaches in preventing heart disease. Now, according to some
cardiologists, it may be possible to detoxify the circulatory system
using oral chelation—pills you take every day just like
vitamins. [Karl: If I
had been skeptical of ANY cardiologist endorsing intravenous chelation
therapy, I would be doubly skeptical that any have ever endorsed
"oral" chelation therapy.
Scrubbing the Arteries
Chelation is a
bit like gently scrubbing the inside of approximately 60,000 miles of
arteries, veins, and capillaries in the body to remove the deposits that
have thickened and hardened the blood vessel walls, thereby obstructing
blood flow. [Karl: This is
just not true!
The analogy of scrubbing is apt because EDTA, the main
chelating agent, was originally used by the U.S. Navy to remove calcium
from pipes and boilers. [Karl:
Yes, indeed, but not through a "scrubbing" action, but by a
"chelating" action -- very different.
It was also given orally to humans to
safely and successfully treat lead poisoning. U.S. doctors noted that
patient s treated with EDTA for lead poisoning also showed considerable
improvement in cardiovascular disease symptoms. Developed in Germany in
the 1930s, EDTA is a nontoxic amino acid (ethylene diamine tetra-acetic
acid). Today, EDTA is the prime component in chelation therapy which,
since the 1960s, has been given intravenously. [Karl:
Prime component? As far as I know it is the ONLY component.
This is generally a very loosely written piece.
EDTA, incidentally, is 3 1/2 times less
toxic than common aspirin and about 300 times safer than bypass surgery.
Chelation therapists state that within 24 hours, 99% of the infused EDTA
has been excreted from the body. The medical reasoning for using EDTA
for cardiovascular purposes is that plaque, a fibrous, yellowish deposit
on arterial walls, is made up largely of calcium, along with
cholesterol, fats, and heavy metals. [Karl:
I don't think any "medical people" feel that plaque includes
heavy metals. This author is simply confused. He has
"heard" some stuff, put together some words, and this passes
off as "valuable information" for the chiropractic
profession. Sad!
If EDTA removed calcium from pipes, and
people who took EDTA for lead poisoning enjoyed heart benefits, EDTA
should be an effective way to unclog arteries and improve blood
flow. [Karl: Of course
this is not the way it works.
Copious clinical research over the past
50 years has borne out this supposition. Researchers L. Terry Chappell,
M.D., and John P. Stahl, Ph.D., recently reviewed the results of 19
studies evaluating the effectiveness of EDTA chelation therapy on 22,765
patients. They found that 87% registered clinical improvement according
to objective tests. In one study, 58 out of 65 coronary artery bypass
candidates and 24 of 27 people scheduled for limb amputation were able
to cancel their surgery after chelation therapy. The analysis provides
"very strong evidence that EDTA is effective in the treatment of
cardiovascular disease," state Chappell and Stahl in Questions from
the Heart (Hampton Roads Publishing, 1996).
Efrain Olszewer, M.D., and James P.
Carter, M.D., reviewed the cases of 2,870 patients with hardening of the
arteries and other age-associated diseases who were treated with EDTA
chelation therapy and vitamin/mineral supplementation between 1983 and
1985 at the Clinica Tuffik Mattar in Sao Paulo, Brazil. According to
their results, published in the Journal of Advancement in Medicine
(1989), marked improvement occurred in 76.9% of patients with ischemic
heart disease and 91% of patients with peripheral vascular disease. In
addition, 75% of all patients ha d reductions in vascular symptoms and,
overall, 89% had benefits rated as "good."
Chelation therapy can also relieve chest
pain, according to a study involving 18 patients, age 45 to 73, with
heart disease, conducted by H. Richard Casdorph, M.D. (Journal of
Advancement in Medicine, 1989). After 20 chelation infusions, "all
patients improved clinically and in all but two there was a complete
subsidence of angina during the course of chelation therapy," said
Dr. Casdorph.
How Chelation Therapy Works
The growing body of clinical evidence
supports the claim that chelation therapy is a safe and effective way to
reduce the risk of heart disease. In the procedure, performed in a
physician's office, EDTA is given as an intravenous infusion over a 1
1/2
to 3 1/2 hour period.
Usually 20 to 30 treatments (at an average cost of
about $100 each) are administered at the rate of one to three sessions
per week. EDTA circulates through the blood vessels and binds to
("chelates") excess amounts of calcium, iron, copper, lead, or
other heavy metals; the EDTA, with its mineral/metal load, is then
eliminated quickly through the urine. [Karl:
EDTA WILL bind with calcium, but only so long as there are no other,
heavier, minerals available, so the inclusion of the "calcium"
in this list goes along with the false data which American's have
swallowed about calcium.
Arterial walls become softer an d
more pliable after chelation, allowing for greater blood flow. Calcium
plaque is foremost among the targets of EDTA. [Karl:
This is simply not true -- it is the heavy metals that are the
target. You can see how people try to pretend that the "old
lies" might be partly true, even when explaining the "new
truths."
Calcium floating freely in
the bloodstream can build up in the tissues and joints and lead to the
formation of plaque lesions. Atherosclero-sis, one of the most common
types of heart disease, involves a buildup of plaque on the inner walls
of the arteries, making them thick and hard. Calcium acts as part of the
glue that holds the plaque lesions together. [Karl:
These are the old lies, being repeated.
The plaque limits the
amount of blood flow, reduces the supply of oxygen to body organs, and
increases the risk of inappropriate blood clotting. The plaque lesions
and the subsequent reduced oxygen supply can lead to chest pain,
coronary heart disease, and heart attacks. If you take an average
80-year-old man and examine his aorta, says Garry F. Gordon, M.D., D.O.,
a chelation pioneer and co-founder in 1973 of the American College for
Advancement in Medicine, now in Laguna Hills, California, you will
probably see evidence of up to 140 times more calcium on this arterial
wall than he had at age ten. "The abdominal artery shows a 50-fold
increase, and the coronary artery shows a 30-fold increase,"
continues Dr. Gordon. "This means you're gradually turning to stone
in all your arteries. However, we can document that calcium accumulation
in the arteries is totally reversible by enough chelation." [Karl:
Whether that calcium is caked on the outside wall of the artery, or is
actually contained INSIDE cells of the artery -- is not subject to
differentiation by an MRI. In other words, calcium on the INSIDE
of a cell looks the same on an MRI as calcium might if it were caked on
the inside of the artery wall.
EDTA
is chemically similar to vinegar, or ordinary acetic acid, says Dr.
Gordon. "It's actually a weak acid; if you put an eggshell in
vinegar, it will dissolve. In the same way, intravenous EDTA will take
calcium off your arteries. [Karl:
Not the same at all.
Because EDTA ties up calcium so avidly, it
was used by blood banks for 15 years to prevent blood from clotting.
Once you tie up calcium, blood cannot clot." While it removes
excess calcium, EDTA does not deplete the body of calcium. By a
surprising biochemical mechanism, chelation therapy actually stimulates
bone growth and can help prevent osteoporosis. People do not die from
atherosclerosis, says Dr. Gordon, but from preventable complications of
blood vessel spasm (preventable by adequate magnesium intake), irregular
heart rhythms (preventable by sufficient mineral intake), or blood
clots.
Much of the long-term benefit of chelation therapy derives from
its ability to slow down free-radical activity and undo the underlying
cause of arterial blockage, says Dr. Gordon. [Karl:
Here we have a piece of truth. But, slowing down free-radical
activity is NOT explained by the physical removal of calcium, but only
by the removal of heavy metals.
"The number of
damaging free radicals is increased by the presence of heavy metals and
acts as a chronic irritant to blood vessel walls and cell
membranes."
This free-radical activity is stimulated by excess
heavy metals and minerals in the blood and plays a major role in the
development of heart disease. "EDTA removes those metallic
irritants, allowing leaky and damaged cell walls to heal." [Karl:
Interesting! Here is a true statement. This author
intersperses true statements, with false statements, and you come away
thinking they are all true. Not true!
According to Stephen F. Edelson, M.D., a progressive alternative
physician who uses chelation therapy in his practice in Atlanta,
Georgia, EDTA's ability to bind with and remove metals, such as iron,
copper, lead, and cadmium, may be a more important factor in reducing
heart disease than its effect on calcium plaque. [Karl:
Well, of course!
These metals are
powerful triggers of excessive free-radical reactions, Dr. Edelson
explains. [Karl: Well, of
course!
"Free-radical pathology, it is now believed, is the
underlying process triggering the development of most age-related
ailments." [Karl: Well,
of course!
The Oral Chelation Alternative
The intriguing question
is whether you can reap the same benefits from chelation when you take
EDTA or other substances orally. According to John R. Alm, M.D., a
physician practicing in Vista, California, oral chelation is a viable
way of "roto-rootering " the cardiovascular system and of
detoxifying the liver and kidneys, the system's main filters. [Karl:
Well, I'm sorry. That is NOT the way that oral chelation works.
Dr. Alm
works with the new Cardio-Care line of oral chelation products including
Buffer-pH+, TriCardia+, and Systemex. [Karl:
Ah! We find out where this guy is coming from. TriCardia+ is
a fraudulent oral chelation product. Click
here to review my comments on this fraud. You finally now
understand what is happening here. Some "shill" for the
TriCardia people managed to sucker the chiropractor information web site
into accepting what might appear to be an objective description of
chelation therapy. This "description" is full of lies,
and is simply self-serving.
This is a three-step, three-month
program designed by Växa International, a maker of homeopathic
formulas, based in San Diego, California.
The concept here is to
detoxify, balance, and nourish the cardiovascular system, says Dr. Alm,
who is a member of Växa's medical advisory board. First, Buffer-pH+
helps to restore a more alkaline pH in the body. An acid pH is regarded
as the "seed-bed of degenerative disease" including most forms
of heart disease. The majority of people in the U.S. are in a constant
state of acidosis, in which their system is overly acidified, primarily
from a faulty diet, explains Dr. Alm.
This, in turn, leads to a kind of
"corrosion" of the blood vessel linings; in a curious way,
hardening of the arteries may emerge as the "body's protective
reaction" to this acidic state, Dr. Alm speculates. [Karl:
He may speculate, but why "wonder" when science has plenty of
explanations for the cause of heart disease. These people had a
formula and then had to "invent" a disease that the formula
might work on. Better to start with the truth about heart disease
and look for a formula that would address that truth. No,
TriCardia is a rip-off! The chiropractors on this web site are
getting crooked data!
"In an
acid environment, heavy metals tend to bind with cholesterol which then
adheres to vessel linings and attracts fibrin [blood-clotting protein]
and other debris, building layer upon layer, eventually becoming a
cement of plaque, blocking arteries." [Karl:
Novel concept! Heavy metals cause increased free radical activity
-- that is the action of heavy metals. This other is hogwash!
This decreases blood flow
which further acidifies the body's tissues. However, when the pH is
balanced again, heavy metals remain free and unbonded, while those that
were previously bonded are easier to remove with EDTA in the program's
second element, TriCardia+, says Dr. Alm. TriCardia+ contains
homeopathic ingredients as well as 1.5 g of EDTA and 2.5 g of 31 other
free-form chelating amino acids. [Karl:
Their rip-off formula may indeed contain that amount of EDTA, but like
many other frauds on the web, they do not reveal their ingredients in
their pages. Their motto? Buy first, then find out!
The product also contains: substances
(essential methyl donors) that will help reduce levels of homocysteine
(see accompanying sidebar, page 69); fats and minerals that together
help repair the damaged inner lining of the cardiovascular system; and
enzymes and herbs that will help thin the blood and reduce the
possibility of clotting, says Växa president, Gregory C.D. Young, Ph.D.
[Karl: Homocysteine? A
foolish straw-man that has been invented for the sole purpose of scaring
people -- it is so easily handled that any claim that something
"special" is needed is pure hype.
Systemex, the third element in Växa's Cardio-Care program, is a liquid
meal replacement formula designed to nutritionally support the
cardiovascular system. [Karl:
There is no explanation about what this is -- beyond hype!
The formula is fat free and lactose free and
contains proteins, complex carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, amino
acids, and 36 vitamins and minerals. A reasonable question often raised
is whether oral EDTA is absorbed as well as that taken intravenously.
According to Dr. Young, "Assimilation of EDTA is effective when it
is taken either intravenously or orally." [Karl:
This is just a lie! Only about 5% of oral EDTA is absorbed into
the body -- how can he make this foolish claim?
Dr. Young states that
EDTA, even though it is a synthetic amino acid, "in free form it
biochemically behaves and is absorbed in exactly the same way as other
free-form (or unbound) amino acids." [Karl:
brand new junk science!
It bypasses the digestive
system entirely and, owing to its small molecular size, enters the
bloodstream through the first segment of the small intestine, says Dr.
Young. [Karl: In order for EDTA to
"bypass" the digestive system it would have to be absorbed
directly from the small intestine. They body does NOT absorb stuff
just because it is small, but only when the body considers it to be
food. If the EDTA, itself, were "chelated," it could then be
absorbed. But, that doesn't happen.
He estimates that just as with other free-form amino acids, about
80% of oral EDTA is assimilated by the body in the first 20 minutes, the
rest following within 90 minutes. [Karl:
Baloney!
"The notion that EDTA is not
absorbed, is in some way destroyed, or suffers from diminished potency
when given orally, is unfounded and contradicts the experience of the
U.S. Navy in the late 1940s," says Dr. Young. [Karl:
Even one reference?
"At that time
thousands of sailors benefited from simple oral administration of EDTA
for lead toxicity." [Karl:
Yes, very true -- through the mechanism of EDTA binding with heavy
metals, and drawing toxic metals from the body, through the intestinal
walls, into the stool and then the toilet!
"The notion that EDTA is not absorbed, is
in some way destroyed, or suffers from diminished potency when given
orally, is unfounded and contradicts the experience of the U.S. Navy in
the late 1940s," says Dr. Young. [Karl:
Sorry, not true!
"At that time thousands of
sailors benefited from simple oral administration of EDTA for lead
toxicity." [Karl: True,
indeed.
Växa's Cardio-Care program has not been on the market
long enough—it was introduced in late 1996—for there to be much
clinical evidence supporting its claims. [Karl:
Also, since it is a fraud, don't expect to see glowing results.
However, it is true that 1.5 grams of EDTA, taken daily (too high a
dose, actually) will produce nice results.
However, Dr. Alm offers the
following case report showing good results using this approach. Colin,
age 74, had chronic high blood pressure and a 20-year history of
arrhythmia, and had suffered a series of strokes after being put on a
blood-thinning drug. The strokes produced a partial paralysis and
considerable weakness in his right arm and leg , says Dr. Alm. Six weeks
after starting the TriCardia+ program, Colin's heart "spontaneously
converted to a normal rhythm and has stayed that way for three
months," Dr. Alm reports. Obviously a great deal more clinical
evidence will be required before it is known for certain if the
persuasive theory behind Växa's oral chelation program is borne out. [Karl:
The close connection between Dr. Alm's lies and the name of Dr. Gordon
will now be brought to Garry's attention, possibly for a comment to be
added here! [I have his
private comment. He is not pleased with the connecting of his name
with information he considers false, but hasn't studied Vaxa enough to
make a comment on it.]
In
any case, according to Dr. Gordon, the proper role of oral EDTA
chelation may be preventive rather than restorative.
An Insurance Policy for the Heart
"Oral chelation is an insurance policy to guarantee
that you stay alive long enough to take intravenous chelation when and
if you choose to," comments Dr. Gordon, who recently introduced his
own oral chelation product called Garlic-EDTA Chelator™ (each capsule
contains 400 mg garlic and 100 mg EDTA).
In other words, the oral route
is advisable for those people with potential heart problems but whose
condition does not yet require rapid action. For those with serious
cardiovascular problems, oral EDTA can be helpful as a maintenance
program after or i n conjunction with intravenous chelation, says Dr.
Gordon. The advantages of oral chelation are that it does not require a
physician's supervision or expensive blood tests to monitor and is
sufficiently low in cost to be useful as a self-care maintenance
program. Its primary shortcoming is that for most patients it will take
longer and require much more in quantity to get the same benefits as
intravenous chelation.
Dr. Gordon notes that for years he has given his
cardiac patients 800 mg daily of oral EDTA, of which he estimates,
taking exception to Dr. Young's more generous estimate of 80%, that only
3 to 8% is absorbed compared to 100% of intravenous EDTA.[Karl: Dr. Gordon has been willing
to use this dosage ONLY under his personal medical supervision --
putting that quantity into a capsule for casual use by the public is not
recommended by Dr. Gordon.
This means,
says Dr. Gordon, it could take five to eight weeks of daily oral EDTA
chelation to get the same effects of a single four-hour intravenous
chelation. Until further definitive research is performed, absorption
rates for oral EDTA will have to be place d somewhere between Dr.
Gordon's 3 to 8% and Dr. Young's 80 to 100%. [Karl:
Dr. Gordon is correct on this!
However, in Dr. Gordon's
view, EDTA-based oral chelation can provide "automatic protection
against the clotting process as well as lower a patient's lead level, so
that they will have a higher functioning immune system, higher IQ, and
better coordination ." When platelets, the factors in blood that
produce clotting, become "sticky," they tend to clump
together, or aggregate, and this sets up conditions for excessive and
unwanted blood clotting, explains Dr. Gordon.
This, in turn, promotes
the formation of vessel-thickening plaque and an increased risk of
heart attack and stroke. While conventional drugs such as aspirin and
coumadin are given to circumvent this problem, Dr. Gordon notes, these
approaches are "dangerous and far less effective" than a
comprehensive oral chelation approach.
Dr. Gordon also notes that
intravenous chelation cannot provide 24-hour-a-day protection against
the main causes of sudden death from heart problems, and that this is
where oral chelation finds its niche. "Continuous protection is
afforded by an oral chelation program," Dr. Gordon says. He claims
that "in the last 14 years new heart attacks and/or strokes have
been virtually nonexistent in my patients on this oral chelation
program."
Garlic, taken alone, is an excellent chelator of metals
such as lead and mercury, says Dr. Gordon. "Now, if you add EDTA to
it, you get more removal of lead, but you also enhance the garlic's
anti-platelet [anti-blood-clotting] activity. Through this combined
action, since EDTA binds with the calcium that is required for blood to
clot, you can protect yourself far more effectively against a blood
clot, even more so than any aspirin dose you might take."
As a
supplement to oral chelation with EDTA, Dr. Gordon recommends OC Packs,
a heart nutrient program he originally customized for his patients in
the early 1980s. These nutrients represent an "important part of
the insurance policy" to prevent death fro m heart disease, says
Dr. Gordon.
Chelating Brandon With Diet and Nutritional Substances
Cardiologist W. Lee Cowden, M.D., of the Conservative Medicine Institute
in Richardson, Texas, contends that oral EDTA is not "particularly
effective" in removing arterial plaque. But Dr. Cowden argues that
a precise combination of nutritional substances and dietary factors can
"cause the body to spontaneously, naturally break down the plaque
and pull it off the arterial walls, producing an effect that is
equivalent to the chelation process." As evidence, Dr. Cowden cites
the case of Brandon, age 57, who had severe disease in three coronary
arteries. His physicians were strongly urging him to undergo angioplasty
and even Dr. Cowden, a long-time advocate of progressive alternatives in
medicine , regarded Brandon's condition as dangerous. "I've never
had anyone in my office so close to having a heart attack without yet
having one," he comments.
An electrocardiogram showed evidence of
an impending heart attack. About 60% of the heart's chamber wall was
immobilized, and the rest was working poorly. Despite the risk, Brandon
refused to be hospitalized and asked Dr. Cowden for home-care
strategies.
Dr. Cowden put Brandon on a strict vegetarian diet,
emphasizing mostly raw fresh foods, whole grains, and beans. Brandon
avoided dairy products, red meats, chicken, and turkey, and only
occasionally ate fish. Research demonstrates that fresh fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of heart disease.
According to Dr. Cowden, the
living enzymes in raw foods may help to remove arterial plaque.
Brandon's dietary changes were complemented with key supplements (see
sidebar, page 68).
In addition, Dr. Cowden had Brandon wear the negative
pole of a small 1,000 gauss magnet against his left chest during all his
waking hours. "The magnet dilates blood vessels and increases the
blood flow to the coronary arteries," Dr. Cowden says. [Karl:
Getting a big squirrelly here!
He emphasizes the importance of using only the negative pole; the positive
pole, when placed against the chest, could restrict blood supply and
provoke a heart attack, he said. Brandon followed the program faithfully
for nine days, then came to Dr. Cowden for another evaluation. "He
climbed up the stairs to my office without any chest discomfort,"
reports Dr. Cowden. "On the heart stress test performed on a
treadmill, Brandon went over 11 minutes, which is probably as far as I
could have gone that day.
He showed no abnormalities on his
electrocardiogram. This means that after nine days his advanced
triple-vessel coronary disease was essentially reversed. He returned to
work the next day and has remained healthy since." [Karl:
One case does not a formula make!
Dr. Cowden
cites another case from his practice illustrating how nutritional
substances can reverse the symptoms of heart disease. Louisa, age 60,
had a 75% blockage in the carotid artery in her neck and was told that
unless she had surgery to correct it , she was likely to have a stroke.
Dr. Cowden put her on Brandon's nutritional program and after three
months a new ultrasound scan of her carotid artery revealed it was only
22% blocked with plaque. [Karl:
Nor two cases!
The Dental Factor in Heart Disease
Often in a
case of coronary disease, Dr. Cowden recommends that patients have all
the mercury amalgams removed from their teeth. Aside from the documented
effect that mercury can leach from dental fillings and be distributed
throughout the body, it can also leak into specific nerve ganglia (stellate,
vagus, or cardiac) which regulate heart function, as Dr. Cowden has
observed in some of his heart disease patients.
"Because the
mercury was poisoning those ganglia, or nerve bundles, the patient's
heart started having problems, such as impaired blood supply or
disturbed heart rhythm," says Dr. Cowden. "When we got the
mercury out of their teeth, then used chelating agents such as DMPS to
get the mercury out of their body tissues, the heart problems cleared up
and they were able to discontinue their heart medications for arrhythmia
and angina."
Dr. Cowden speculates that some people who are helped
by EDTA benefit because it pulls heavy metals from the nerve ganglia
serving the heart. The dental factor, which Brandon could not afford to
address at the time, probably accounted for the remaining 1 0%
improvement that he failed to achieve, Dr. Cowden adds.
Dr. Cowden also
urges heart disease patients to eliminate all chronic infections from
the teeth (such as within the jawbone or associated with root canals),
intestines, and elsewhere in the body. "These infections usually
cause an inflammatory response t hat speeds up the process of artery
hardening," Dr. Cowden notes.
One patient he treated with a heart
rhythm disturbance had considerable mercury distributed in his body, but
it was especially concentrated in the submandibular nerve ganglion
(below the mandible in the jaw). In addition, an infection in the
patient's jaw at the site of a previous wisdom tooth extraction was
also contributing to the heart problem.
Through the body energy lines
called meridians in acupuncture, this site was energetically linked with
his heart and the jaw infection was harming that organ. When the
infection and mercury leakage and poisoning were corrected (including
mercury amalgam removal), the man's heart arrhythmia resolved, recounts
Dr. Cowden.
How Arteries Thicken
In atherosclerosis, or hardening of the
arteries, as pH becomes more acid, cholesterol plaque (made from
cholesterol, fibrin, heavy metals, wastes and toxins) builds up in
arteries and veins over time and may dangerously block blood flow,
subsequently ca using heart attack and stroke.
1. A normal, healthy
artery with open and clear passages. [image not found]
2.The beginning of cholesterol
plaque build up within the artery. The inner artery wall is also
beginning to weaken and bulge with cholesterol and toxic deposits.
3.Severely restricted artery with cholesterol plaque filling the
majority of an artery. Note further breakdown and ballooning of inner
artery wall.
The Alarming Facts About Heart Disease
Cardiovascular
disease (CVD) has been the leading killer of Americans nearly every year
since 1900. CVD includes coronary heart disease (decreased blood flow to
the heart), heart attack, stroke, chest pain (angina pectoris), high
blood pressure, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), rheumatic heart
disease, and hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis, with
atherosclerosis, involving fatty arterial wall deposits, being the most
common).
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), every 33
seconds an American dies of CVD—that's about 954,000 deaths annually
or about 42% of all mortalities. Every 20 seconds, an American suffers a
heart attack, and every 60 seconds, somebody dies from one, says AHA.
At present, an estimated 57.4 million Americans have one or more types
of heart disease and, among deaths attributed to CVD, 52.3% are women
and 47.7% are men. African Americans suffer CVD at much higher rates
than whites: the rate of death from CVD among black males is 47.4%
higher and, among black females, it's 69.1% higher. In 1994, an
estimated 501,000 coronary bypass surgeries at $44,000 each were
performed on Americans; 47% of these were done on men and women under
age 65. In the same year, 404,000 angioplasties at $21,000 each were
performed (65% on men, 53% on people under age 65).
Total costs of CVD
for 1994, both direct (hospitalization, procedures, and drugs) and
indirect (lost working time), were an estimated $259 billion.
Homocysteine: The Main Cause of Heart Disease? In 1969, heart researcher
Kilmer S. McCully, M.D., published an unorthodox conclusion in the
American Journal of Pathology regarding a new possible cause of heart
disease.
This move soon cost him his job at Harvard University, he says.
Dr. McCully proposed that a substance called homocysteine could, when
allowed to accumulate to toxic levels, degenerate arteries and produce
heart disease. Homocysteine, an amino acid, is a normal by-product of
protein metabolism (specifically, of the amino acid methionine) which
does not create a problem when present in small amounts. However, Dr.
McCully observed that children with elevated levels of homocysteine
showed signs of blood vessel degeneration similar to these observed in
middle-aged adults with heart disease.
He next demonstrated that when
rabbits were injected with homocysteine, they developed arterial
plaques within three to eight weeks. Homocysteine apparently curtails
the ability of blood vessels to expand, keeping them restricted and
narrow. It accomplishes this by increasing connective tissue growth and
by degenerating the elastic tissue in the arterial walls, says Dr.
McCully. Dr. McCully argued that high-protein diets, more than fats and
cholesterol, seem to be a prime cause of heart disease. After
publication of his novel theory, subsequently backed by considerable
clinical support, Harvard denied him tenure, and effectively fired him.
The evidence continues to mount in support of Dr. McCully's homocysteine
theory. In 1992, researchers at Harvard University School of Public
Health showed that men with homocysteine levels only 12% higher than
average had 3.4 times greater risk of heart attack than those with
normal levels. Also that year, the European Journal of Clinical
Investigation showed that 40% of stroke victims have elevated
homocysteine levels compared to only 6% of controls.
The Journal of the
American Medical Association (1995) reviewed 209 studies linking
homocysteine with heart disease and concluded that homocysteine
represents a strong independent risk factor. [Karl:
Yes, but! It is so easily handled that this data is a spineless
scarecrow!
In 1996, The Lancet stated
that homocysteine was to be considered an independent risk factor for
stroke even after adjustment for other risk factors. According to Dr.
McCully, heart disease is attributed to "abnormal processing of
protein in the body because of deficiencies of B vitamins in the
diet."
It is this B-vitamin deficiency which allows homocysteine,
normally converted to a harmless substance , to accumulate to dangerous
levels. "Protein intoxication," characterized by excess
homocysteine, then starts damaging the cells and tissues of arteries,
"setting in motion the many processes that lead to loss of
elasticity, hardening and calcification, narrowing of the lumen
[arterial passageway], and formation of blood clots within
arteries."
Elevated homocysteine has the potential of displacing
high cholesterol levels as the major dietary factor in heart disease. A
German study (1991) looked at the coronary arteries of 163 males with
chest pain and concluded that the arterial narrowing was d ue more to
blood levels of homocysteine than to cholesterol. In 1997, Dr. McCully
declared: "Elevated blood homocysteine is estimated to account for
at least 10% of the risk of coronary heart disease in the U.S.
population."
An effective way to lower homocysteine is through
vitamin B6, often combined with folic acid and vitamin B12, Dr. McCully
further discovered. Dr. McCully generally recommends 3-3.5 mg of vitamin
B6, 350-400 mcg daily of folic acid, and at least 3 mcg dai ly of
vitamin B12. According to Mark Nehler, M.D., and colleagues at Oregon
Health Sciences University in Portland, at least 50,000 annual deaths
from coronary disease could be prevented yearly by supplementation with
oral folate (folic acid), based on h is analysis of the patient outcomes
(and mortalities) of other published studies. SOURCES—Kilmer S.
McCully, M.D., The Homocysteine Revolution: Medicine for the New
Millennium, Keats Publishing, Inc. (1997), 27 Pine Street, Box 876, New
Canaan, CT 06840; tel: 800-858-7014.
To reach Kilmer McCully, M.D.,
contact: Veterans' Affairs Medi cal Center, 830 Chalkstone Avenue, PL
& M (113), Providence, RI 02908; fax: 401-457-3069.
Mark Nehler,
M.D. et al., "Homocysteinemia as a Risk Factor for Atherosclerosis:
A Review," Cardiovascular Pathology 6 (1997), 1-9.
For more
information about chelation therapy, contact: American College for
Advancement in Medicine, 23121 Verdugo Drive, Suite 204, Laguna Hills,
CA 92653; tel: 714-583-7666 or 800-532-3688.
For Buffer-pH+, TriCardia+,
and Systemex, contact: Växa Intern ational, Inc., 10307 Pacific Center
Court, San Diego, CA 92121; tel: 800-248-8292 (reference RS# 30181-3) or
619-625-8292; fax: 619-625-8272; website: http://www.vaxa.com.
For John
R. Alm, M.D., contact: Pacific Immediate Care, 1900 Hacienda Drive,
Vista , CA 92083; tel: 760-940-2011; fax: 760-940-0359.
For Garry F.
Gordon, M.D., D.O.: Get Healthy, 901 Anasazi Road, Payson, AR 85541; tel:
520-472-9086; fax: 520-474-1297;
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