EDTA Chelation Therapy

Filed Under: Clinical Therapies
Last Reviewed 02/17/2014

EDTA Chelation Therapy

As you go through life, you ingest or absorb toxic metals from various sources, including (but in no way limited to) some species of fish, amalgam dental fillings and lead paint. EDTA chelation therapy uses chelating agents to flush these toxic metals from your body. It’s also often used to treat heart disease and other conditions involving poor circulation.

How Does EDTA Chelation Therapy Work?

With chelation therapy, you receive a specific chelating agent, such as EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid), which was first used to treat lead poisoning. When EDTA is infused into your bloodstream, it latches onto harmful heavy metals such as lead, iron, mercury and cadmium and carries them out of your body through urine.

By reducing your body’s toxic metal and free radical burden, EDTA chelation therapy improves the health of your arteries and slows the process of atherosclerosis. Chelation also has blood-thinning effects and discourages the formation of potentially dangerous blood clots that can cause a heart attack or stroke.

What Is a Typical Treatment Session Like?

Chelation therapy begins with testing to discover what types of toxic metals are in your body. Chelating agents are then chosen based on the identified toxicity. Treatment sessions vary depending on the type of chelating agents used. However, EDTA is the most commonly used agent.

During EDTA chelation therapy, you relax in a recliner while the chelating agent is slowly administered through an IV. With EDTA chelation therapy, individual treatments last an hour and a half to three hours, and a complete course consists of 30 treatments, administered several times a week.

What Conditions Is Chelation Good For?

Learn more about how we use chelation at the Whitaker Wellness Institute.

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