IS IT TRUE THAT CHELATION THERAPY COMBATS ATHEROSCLEROSIS BY ACTING LIKE A LIQUID PLUMBERBY LEECHING CALCIUM OUT OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC PLAQUE?
No! Before recent medical breakthroughs in the area of free radical pathology, it was hypothesized that EDTA chelation therapy had its major beneficial effect on calcium metabolism that it stripped away the excess calcium from the plaque, restoring arteries to their pliable pre-calcified state. This frequently offered explanation the so-called “roto-rooter” conceptis not the real reason, as previously postulated, that chelation therapy produces its major health benefits. The fact that EDTA does remove some circulating calcium is now felt to be one of the less prominent aspects of its benefits. Calcium deposits are a late-stage phenomenon and have little to do with the formation of arterial plaque. Most importantly, EDTA has an affinity for the so-called transition metal, iron, and for the related toxic metals, lead, mercury, cadmium, nickel, aluminum and others, which are potent catalysts of excessive free radical reactions or other toxicity. Free radical pathology, it is now believed,
