Rid Your Body of Lead Toxicity With Chelation Therapy

 

Abundant, durable, malleable, resistant to corrosion: No wonder lead has been such a popular metal throughout human history. Ancient Romans found a multitude of uses for it, from lining water pipes and drinking vessels to sweetening wine. What they didn’t realize were the detrimental health effects that could be caused by lead toxicity. It is now believed that lead poisoning was responsible for the bizarre behavior, mental incompetence, gout, stillbirths, and sterility that afflicted the Roman aristocracy—and quite possibly contributed to the decline  of the Roman Empire.

Fast forward to 1921, when General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley, Jr., came up with another use for lead. As a gasoline additive, it reduced engine knock and improved performance.  Of course, it was known to be toxic. Thomas Midgley himself was plagued with a “mysterious illness” while experimenting with it and, in 1924, 15 refinery workers died and 300 more became severely psychotic as a result of working with leaded gasoline.

But that didn’t matter. Thanks to corporate greed and government complicity, lead’s well-documented adverse effects were ignored, and for more than 60 years this potent toxin spewed into our environment. Leaded gas was finally phased out in 1986, and air levels of lead dropped dramatically. But even today, nearly 30 years later, 7 million tons of lead remains in our soil, water, air—and bodies.

Bones Bear the Burden of Lead Toxicity

More than 90 percent of your body’s total burden of lead toxicity resides in your skeleton. And for those of us who grew up in the days when lead was also in paint, pipes, water tanks, cans, and a plethora of other consumer products, that’s a lot of lead. In fact, we harbor a whopping 650 times more of this heavy metal in our bones than people did 100 years ago.

Lead is a neurotoxin that causes mental retardation and developmental delays in children and a multitude of cognitive problems in people of all ages. It also damages the endothelial cells lining the arteries and curbs production of nitric oxide, impairing circulation, raising blood pressure, and increasing risk of cardiovascular disease, kidney dysfunction, cancer, and premature death.

If lead would stay put in the bones, it might not be such a problem—but it doesn’t. Along with other minerals, lead is released into the bloodstream and transported to tissues throughout the body. Generally, this release is slow, gradual, and unnoticed. But there are times when it picks up speed. During pregnancy, when extra calcium is needed for fetal bone development, blood lead levels rise, increasing risk of hypertension for women with high levels, and causing low birth weight and physical and mental developmental delays for their children.

Lead is also mobilized during mid-life and old age. Women are especially vulnerable after menopause, when bone loss increases. It is estimated that blood lead levels go up 30 percent during the five years after menopause! Men also lose bone mass as they age, and the resultant increase in blood lead levels negatively affects them as well.

Chelation Therapy Gets the Lead Out

As you can see, we all need to take steps to address lead toxicity, and the fastest way to do this is to undergo a course of intravenous (IV) EDTA chelation, also called chelation therapy. EDTA is a synthetic amino acid that forms a tight chemical bond with lead and other minerals and carries them out of the body in the urine.

EDTA chelation has been the number-one FDA-approved therapy for lead poisoning since 1948. After World War II, sailors suffering with lead toxicity acquired while painting battleships and docks with lead-based paint were treated with EDTA chelation, and their results were remarkable. Not only did these men have the expected restoration of memory, energy, vision, and hearing, but those who also had heart disease experienced unexpected improvements in angina and circulation.

That’s how the broad benefits of chelation therapy were serendipitously discovered. Astute physicians took heed and began using chelation for patients with cardiovascular disease and circulatory problems and, for a decade or so, its popularity mushroomed. Then the politics and economics of modern medicine intervened.

To make a long story short, this relatively inexpensive, office-based therapy had no chance against the Goliaths of cardiology (surgery and drugs). Chelation therapy became embroiled in controversy, where it remains to this day. But a few thousand physicians refused to give up on it.

Dr. Whitaker

6 Everyday Habits That Keep Your Bones Healthy

Some loss of bone density is normal with aging, but there are factors that speed mineral loss from the bones or impede bone repair and rebuilding. Here are six simple habits you can adopt in your everyday life that will help to protect your bones.

1. Limit your intake of caffeine, which promotes calcium excretion. Coffee has multiple health benefits, so I don’t recommend you avoid it altogether. Instead, try to keep your caffeine consumption under 300 mg per day (roughly 2 cups of coffee). If you regularly drink more than that, be sure you’re supplementing with extra calcium.
2. Eliminate soft drinks, which Americans guzzle by the gallon. They’re a triple whammy, as they contain caffeine, sugar, and chemicals called phosphates that also cause calcium loss.
3. Make sure you get plenty of protein. Protein used to be considered a culprit in bone loss. However, more recent studies suggest that it actually promotes bone health. Good sources include chicken, turkey, fish, and tofu.
4. Load up on vegetables. Eat lots of leafy greens and broccoli, which are rich in vitamin K, calcium, and magnesium.
5. Drink green tea. Green tea is low in caffeine and is a good source of vitamin K, which improves bone mineralization.
6. Exercise. Studies show that an exercise program can increase bone mass by five to ten percent—even more in those with low bone mass to begin with. No matter what their age, people who engage in regular weight-bearing exercise have higher bone density. The best exercises for maintaining bone strength are those that strengthen muscle against gravity, such as dancing, walking, and weight lifting. Try to add two weekly strength-training sessions to your regimen.

Now it’s your turn: Which of these healthy habits have you adopted?