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Chelating agents were introduced into medicine as a result of the use of poison gas warfare in World War I. The first widely used chelating agent was called British Anti- Lewisite, or BAL, a name given to dimercaprol . It is an organic compound related to the mercaptans, which are a class of sulfur-containing organic compounds. The name comes from their ability to react and form compounds with, or "capture," mercury. Lewisite gas was an arsenic based organic compound used in gas warfare; BAL bound the arsenic compounds from lewisite in the body and enabled it to be excreted harmlessly.
After the metal capturing effects of BAL, a group of chelating agents was discovered. The chelating agents proper bind with metallic ions so that the ion is held by several chemical bonds, thus rendering it much less chemically reactive and allowing the ion to be excreted harmlessly.
Chelation therapy is used as a treatment for acute mercury, arsenic, lead, plutonium and other forms of heavy metal poisoning, where the amounts are so high that there is enough risk to the health of the patient to justify the therapy. Common chelating agents include desfuroxamine mesylate, DMSA, D-penicillamine, dimercaprol (BAL), and calcium disodium versante (CaNa2-EDTA). The choice of chelating agent depends on which metal is involved. The chelating agent may be administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or orally, depending on the agent and the type of poisoning.
Chelation agents are also sometimes used by alternative practitioners to treat what they believe to be a case of heavy metal poisoning and to treat coronary artery disease. Its use by practitioners of alternative medicine is not supported by evidence.
The American College for Advancement in Medicine , which supports the use of chelation therapy, claims that 800,000 patient visits for chelation therapy, with an average of 40 visits per patient, were made in the United States in 1997 [1]. That is about 0.007% of the total US population. They claim that by 2001 that the number of people who have undergone chelation therapy equaled the number of people having had bypass surgery. A May 2004 survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) estimated that 0.1%, plus or minus 0.02% of the adult USThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in population had used chelation therapy at some point in their life.
Some alternative practitioners use chelation to treat hardening of the arteriesAtherosclerosis is a disease of arterial blood vessels. Venous vessels are not involved unless surgically moved to function as an artery. Atherosclerosis is commonly referred to as a "hardening of blood vessels", but this is an over-simplification. Vascul. The safety and efficacy of EDTA chelation therapy as a treatment for coronary artery disease are being assessed by NCCAM in a five-year study which began in 2002. [2]
The original theory behind calcium chelation therapy was that EDTA forms a complexThis article is about the chemical complex. For other uses of this word, see complex''. In chemistry, a complex is a structure composed of a central metal atom or ion, generally a cation, surrounded by a number of negatively charged ions or neutral molecu with the calciumSee also Calcium, New York, United States. potassium calcium scandium Mg Ca Sr Full table General Name, Symbol, Numbercalcium, Ca, 20 Series alkaline earth metal Group, Period, Block 2 (IIA), 4, s Density, Hardness 1550 kg/m3, 1. 75 Appearance silvery whi in the walls of arteriesAn artery or arterial is also a class of highway. Arteries are muscular tubes that carry blood flow away from the heart to the tissues and organs of the body ( by contrast, veins are the return path tubes). The arterial layer that is in direct contect wit. One problem with this theory is that EDTA cannot penetrate the cell walls in the arteries and therefore cannot get access to the calcium. Another is that it binds preferentially to other metals.
A number of dangers have been associated with the therapy including hypocalcaemiaIn medicine, hypocalcaemia is the presence of less than a total calcium of 2. 2 mmol/L (9mg/dl), or an ionized calcium of less than 1. 1 mmol/L (4. 5 mg/dL) in the serum. Causes absent parathyroid hormone (PTH) hereditary hypoparathyroidism acquired hypop and decreased blood coagulationCoagulation is the thickening or congealing of any liquid into solid clots. This article is about a specific medical usage of the term with reference to human blood's mechanisms for forming scabs over wounds. The coagulation of human blood is a fairly com ability (possibly due to loss of calcium). Also associated with this practice is the risk of leaching of necessary trace metals.