The Long-Term Effect of Chelation Therapy - A 6-12 Year Follow-Up of a 1993 EDTA Study
By Claus Hancke MD, FACAM, 2000
Abstract
In 1993 we reported a series of 92 patients (1) who had been referred for surgical intervention between 1987 and 1993, but who had received EDTA chelation with considerable benefit, obviating surgery in 82 of them.
This is to report our follow-up of those patients in an attempt to ascertain the long-term effectiveness of their treatment.
We were able to contact 47 of the original 52 patinets from one of the two clinics involved in the original study. Unfortunately, it was not possible to obtain records patients from the other clinic involved in the original study.
Out of the 47 patients, 34 have not required surgical intervention ip to the present time. It is probable that the majority would havebeen subjected to bypass surgery or leg amputation 11 to 12 years ago, since that would have been the conventional approach in view of the severity of their disease.
Introduction
In a retrospective study, covering a period from 1987 to 1993 (1), we studied 470 patients with atherosclerosis, treated with Mg-EDTA chelation therapy on two Danish chelation clinics. The results were measured on 19 objective and 8 subjective parameters. The positive effects of the therapy varied from 80 to 91% improvement, depending on the parameter measured. This equals the results from similar studies of this form of therapy (2).
The interest for this study has especially been on the patients scheduled for bypass operation or amputation of a leg or a foot, since the majority of these patients were spared this surgical intervention after the EDTA chelation therapy.
Therefore we have found an interest in analysing how these patients, who were originally scheduled for bypass operation or amputation, managed during the following years after the chelation therapy.
There were 92 patients from the two medical centers reporting the original study who had been scheduled for surgical intervention. Surgery had been cancelled in 82 of them after at least 20 treatments with EDTA chelation therapy. There were no deaths or serious side effects caused by the treatment. This is a follow-up of 47 of these patients to report their present health status.
Materials, methods and results
Of the original 92 patients, some had been scheduled for bypass surgery as early as 1987, so this study covers periods of 6-12 years after their original commitment to surgery. Fifty-two of them were from one clinic, and it was possible to locate and contact 47. The other clinic has been moved and it was impossible to trace those patients.
All patients underwent a course of Mg-EDTA chelation therapy according to the protocol of the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) (3). The majority of the patients followed the recommended maintenance program, receiving one chelation treatment a month for the first year after the initial course of 30 treatments and four to twelve treatments a year thereafter, individually adjusted.
Of the 52 patients, 34 with cardiovascular disease (CVD) had been scheduled for bypass surgery when they started their chelation therapy. The remaining 18 patients with peripheral vascular diseases (PVD) had been facing amputation of a leg.
Of the 34 CVD patients it has been possible to contact all, either through the clinic files, through other physicians, or through direct contact with the patients. There were 7 women and 27 men.
Of these, 23 are still well and have not required surgery, some of them for more than twelve years after the scheduled bypass operation would have taken place.
Nine had undergone bypass surgery and one had a percutaneous transluminal coronary artherectomy (PTCA) with a stent. Three patients had died. One of the 9 patients that had bypass surgery, and the patient who had been treated with PTCA and stent, had died, and one died from cancer.
The patient who had been treated with PTCA and stent had been originally scheduled for bypass surgery. While awaiting his admission to hospital, he started chelation in 1989. His health remained moderately good and he continued to receive chelation maintenance treatments until 1995 when he had PTCA and a stent. His condition deteriorated quickly and he died 4 months later of myocardial infarction.
The other patient, also awaiting bypass surgery, underwent chelation in 1991. He was treated with bypass surgery 9 months later after 34 chelation treatments, did well for 6 more years but died in 1997 from myocardial infarction. The first two years after bypass surgery, he had 12 chelation treatments but had not received any chelation maintenance after 1993. The third patient awaiting bypass surgery who died, started chelation in 1992 and died in 1995 from cancer having had just 23 treatments.
Six of the 34 referred for bypass did not follow the maintenance program. Two died and one had his bypass. Three did well without bypass operation on no maintenance. Twenty eight followed the maintenance program. One died, 7 were operated. Twenty did well on the maintenance program without operation.
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Figure 1. ( missing - to be updated! )
Outcome of clinical status of the number of patients per year who started EDTA chelation between 1987 and 1992
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Figure 2. ( missing - to be updated! )
Patients who started EDTA chelation between 1987 and 1992 instead of undergoing scheduled bypass surgery
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Figure 3. ( missing - to be updated! )
Condition of patients referred for coronary artery surgery who received chelation as an alternative between 1987 and 1992
Of the 18 patients who were facing leg-amputation, it has been possible to trace 13. There were 6 women and 7 men. To this date, only one of them has been subjected to amputation. This was a patient with severe gangrenous ulcers on the heel. One patient died. He started chelation therapy in 1991, had 34 treatments but died in 1993 from congestive heart failure. It has not been possible to locate or contact the remaining five patients.
Six of the 13 traceable patients facing amputation did not follow the maintenance program. One died and one was amputated. Four did well without amputation on almost no maintenance. Seven followed the maintenance program. They all did well without amputation.
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Figure 4. ( missing - to be updated! )
Patients scheduled for amputation who were treated with EDTA chelation therapy as an alternative between 1987 and 1992
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Figure 5. ( missing - to be updated! )
Patients with peripheral vascular disease who were scheduled for amputation but started EDTA-chelation therapy as an alternative
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Discussion
The original results from 1993 were very similar in both participating clinics, so the results reported here might be expected to be similar though this is mere speculation. It is unfortunate that it has not been possible to contact 5 of the patients who had been scheduled for amputation.
The prognosis for patients facing amputation of a limb is very severe and the records of our traceable patients are remarkable by comparison. They experienced considerable, and conventionally unexpected, long-term benefit over a period of 6 to 12 years.
The mortality of patients over 65 years with myocardial infarction who have undergone bypass surgery is 22 % within one month after surgery and 34 % after one year (4). Of our 24 patients who were over 65, 19 had experienced myocardial infarction. We would therefore have predicted death in 6 if they all had undergone surgery, whereas only one patient died in this group that had been treated with chelation.
Survival studies after bypass surgery have been published (5,6). Using the Kaplan-Meier-Curves shown in these studies we should have been able to predict that, if all our patients had received bypass surgery instead of chelation, at least 11 more patients would have died by this time. Details on individual patients are shown in Tables 1 and 2.
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Figure 6. ( missing - to be updated! )
1999 status for all patients facing surgical intervention when they started EDTA-chelation therapy in 1987 to 1993
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CONCLUSION
If all the patients in our original study had undergone the prescribed surgical intervention, according to the published literature (4,5,6) fewer would have been alive today. The facts speak for themselves.
The majority of these patients, originally scheduled for surgical intervention as long as 6 to 12 years ago, remained well after being treated with Mg-EDTA chelation therapy according to the ACAM-protocol (3). The majority of the patients who did well, followed the recommended maintenance program.
Although the numbers in this study are relatively small, we believe that they support EDTA chelation therapy as a safe first choice for treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, if there is no indication for acute surgical intervention.
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References:
1. Hancke C, Flytlie K. Benefits of EDTA chelation therapy in arteriosclerosis: a retrospective study of 470 patients. J Adv Med 1993;6(3):161-171.
2. Chappell LT, Stahl JP. The correlation between EDTA chelation therapy and improvement in cardiovascular function: A meta-analysis. J Adv Med;6(3)1993:139-160.
3. Cranton EM: Protocol of the American College of Advancement in Medicine for the safe and effective administration of EDTA chelation therapy. J Adv Med 1989;2:269-305.
4. Tu JV, Pashos CL, Naylor CD, et al: Use of cardiac procedures and outcomes in elderly patients with myocardial infarction in the United States and Canada. N Engl J Med 1997;336: 1500-1505.
5. Bertelsen CA, Høier-Madsen K, Folke Kirsten, et al. Twenty years follow up on Danish CABG-patients. Ugeskr Læger 1995;157:889-892.
6. Yusuf S, Zucker D, Peduzzi P, et al. Effect of coronary artery bypass graft surgery on survival: overview of 10 years results. Lancet 1994;344:563-570.
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Table 1.
Status in May 1st 1999 for the patients waiting for bypass operation at the start of the EDTA-chelation therapy between 1987 and 1993.
Patient - M/F - Age 99 - Ref. CABG - Started EDTA - Condition 99 - Medicine 99 - EDTA treatments - Date CABG - Date Stent - Date Death
1 M 73 1990 1990 Well Less 83 1998
2 M 78 1989 1989 Well Less 131 1994
3 F 78 1991 1991 Well Less 74 -
4 M 72 1990 1991 - - 46 1991 - 1997
5 M 61 1989 1989 Well Less 156 -
6 F 61 1992 1992 Well Less 51 -
7 F 70 1991 1991 Well Less 92 -
8 M 54 1988 1988 Well Less 110 1992
9 M 72 1989 1989 Same More 73 1990
10 F 71 1989 1989 Well Less 76 -
11 M 54 1989 1989 - - 89 - 1995 1996
12 M 75 1987 1987 Well Less 57 -
13 M 74 1090 1990 Well Less 87 -
14 M 76 1991 1992 Well Less 120 1995
15 M 66 1987 1987 Well Less 150 -
16 M 76 1990 1990 Well Less 69 -
17 M 65 1987 1989 Well Same 65 -
18 F 71 1990 1991 Well Less 48 -
19 F 73 1989 1992 Well Less 72 -
20 M 67 1992 1992 Bad More 30 1993
21 M 71 1988 1988 Well More 84 -
22 M 79 1988 1989 Well Less 78 -
23 M 74 1991 1991 Well Same 68 -
24 M 76 1988 1988 Well Less 43 -
25 F 76 1989 1989 Well Less 77 -
26 M 58 1992 1992 Well More 30 1994
27 M 85 1988 1989 Well Less 113 1992
28 M 79 1988 1989 Well Less 78 -
29 M 61 1991 1991 Well Less 87 -
30 M 80 1991 1991 Well Less 112 -
31 M 79 1990 1991 Same More 80 -
32 M 56 1991 1991 Well Less 37 -
33 M 62 1992 1992 23 - - 1995
34 M 47 1991 1991 Well Less 125 -
Table 2.
Status May 1st 1999 for the patients facing amputation at the start of the EDTA- chelation therapy between 1987 and 1993.
Patient - M/F - Age 99 - Expected date amputation - Started EDTA - Condition 99 - Medicine 99 - EDTA treatments - Date amputation - Date Death
1 F 84 1988 1988 Well More 45
2 F 71 1993 1993 Well Less 81
3 F 73 1989 1989 Well Less 50
4 M 77 1991 1991 Well Less 58
5 F 58 1991 1991 Well More 81
6 F 75 1989 1989 Well More 62
7 M 75 1992 1992 Well Same 37
8 M 66 1993 1993 Well Same 44
9 F 63 1990 1991 Well More 41
10 M 73 1992 1992 Bad More 31 1993
11 M 69 1991 1991 Well Less 48 -
12 M 60 1993 1993 Well More 49 -
13 M 75 1991 1991 - - 34 1993 1993
14 ?
15 ?
16 ?
17 ?
18 ?
(Clin Pract Alt Med, Spring 2000, 1(3):158-163).