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ASK DR. ANTHONY KOMAROFF |
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Study
shows chelation therapy may not help
heart disease
Dear
Doctor K: I have
heart disease. Will
chelation therapy
help reduce my risk
of a heart attack?
Dear Reader:
That’s a timely
question, because a
recent study of
chelation therapy
has generated a lot
of interest and
debate.
Chelation therapy is
used to eliminate
metals or other
toxins from your
body. During the
procedure, chemicals
are infused into
your bloodstream.
When these chemicals
find unwanted
substances as they
travel through your
blood, they attach
themselves to them
and carry them out
of the body in your
urine. For people
with toxic levels of
lead or mercury,
chelation therapy is
an FDA-approved
method to help with
their removal from
the body.
Its use for heart
disease is more
controversial.
Here’s the idea:
Heart disease
results when your
blood vessels are
narrowed by
atherosclerotic
plaques that limit
blood flow. These
plaques are largely
made up of fat,
cholesterol and
calcium. Chelation
with a chemical
called EDTA pulls
calcium out of
atherosclerotic
plaques — or so
the thinking goes.
This is supposed to
shrink plaques and
make artery walls
healthier. Thus, the
risk of heart
attack, stroke and
other problems
related to blood
vessel diseases
should decrease.
For decades,
chelation
practitioners have
claimed that the
procedure works. But
results of a
recently published
study didn’t
support the positive
claims.
The study included
1,708 adults age 50
and older who had a
previous heart
attack. Half of the
patients got 40
infusions of EDTA
solution along with
high doses of
vitamin and mineral
supplements. Half
got a placebo
(saltwater)
solution. People
were chosen for the
chelation therapy
group and the
placebo group by a
random process.
The researchers
followed the
patients for about
4.5 years.
Twenty-six percent
of people in the
chelation group had
heart attack, stroke
or hospitalization
for chest pain or
heart bypass
surgery. That was
compared with 30
percent of patients
in the placebo
group. Statistical
testing showed that
the slightly lower
rate of heart
problems in the
chelation group
could have occurred
by chance.
More troubling was
the fact that many
people who were
assigned to have
chelation therapy
never actually
received the
therapy.
Nearly 20 percent
dropped out of the
study before
completing the
therapy. So drawing
conclusions about
the value of
chelation therapy
from this study is
difficult.
There are more
established ways to
prevent heart
attacks, stroke and
premature death. For
example:
■ Get active
■ Eat better
■ Don’t
smoke
■ Control
cholesterol
■ Manage blood
pressure
■ Lose weight
■ Reduce blood
sugar If you already
have atherosclerosis,
you should be taking
a statin drug and a
daily aspirin.
If you take these
steps, I think the
current evidence
says that you’re
unlikely to get any
extra benefit from
chelation therapy.
In contrast to that
inconclusive
evidence, the
evidence on each of
these lifestyle
changes and
medications is
conclusive: They all
definitely protect
you from heart
disease, strokes and
premature death.
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Write to Dr. Anthony Komaroff at: Dr. Anthony
Komaroff, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64106. For more information, visit
www.askdoctork.com.
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