Chelation often gets a bad rap and this author opines that the bad rap often comes from practitioners who use risky chelation methods, such as intravenous dosing. Chelation not only removes toxicant metals, but also minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Too large a dose all at once could strip the body of these minerals required for heart function and cause death. Sadly, these cases have received bad publicity and tainted the benefits and relative safety of oral chelation.However, chelation is not all bad and may even be beneficial. Flora et al (2007) published a study entitled "Arsenic and lead induced free radical generation and their reversibility following chelation" in the Cellular and Molecular Biology journal. The researchers found that chelation after exposure to lead or arsenic actually reversed the free radical damage that the heavy metals caused.
The researchers focused on lead and arsenic, as they believe the two are the most important current global environmental toxicants because the symptoms of toxicity are believed to be produced by an imbalance between pro-oxidant and antioxidant homeostasis, as well as a high affinity for thiol groups on functional proteins.
Lead poisoning can result in fatigue, vomiting, gastrointestinal irritation, diarrhea, loss of appetite, colic, weakness and dehydration. Severe cases lead to convulsions, external limb paralysis, coma, and death. Arsenic poisoning can result in stomach pains, cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting, dryness and tightness in the throat, thirst, hoarseness, speach difficulty, convulsions, delirium, and death. Both interfere with central nervous system function, as well as liver and kidney function. The approved treatment for both is administration of chelating agents to bind with the metals and carry them out of the body.
The researchers cite calcium disodium ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (CaNa2EDTA), D-penicillamine and British anti-lewisite (BAL) as the most commonly used chelating agents. They believe that meso 2,3 dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), commonly used by naturopaths for mercury chelation, is unable to remove the metal from intracellular sites. Therefore, they recommend combination therapy, including the use of "structurally different chelators or a combination of an adjuvant/ antioxidant/ herbal extracts and a chelator" for better results.
-LS
Reference:
Flora SJ, Flora G, Saxena G, Mishra M. Arsenic and lead induced free radical generation and their reversibility following chelation. Cell Mol Biol (Noisy-le-grand). 2007 Apr 15;53(1):26-47.
