Saving a Million Hearts

In 2013 a group of ICIM members gathered to discuss an integrative, preventative approach to the Saving a Million Hearts initiative, including chelation therapy. Here are video clips of their conversations. The event was organized by Terry Chappell MD, and Jeannette Soriano MD is the facilitator.

Jeannette Soriano

Saving a Million Hearts Outline

Saving a Million Hearts Introduction from an Integrative Medicine Perspective

Dr. Terry Chappell, Dr. Lambert Parker, and Dr. James Carter discuss the “Saving a Million Hearts” initiative of the CDC and other medical groups. These three integrative doctors talk about the importance of going beyond pharmaceuticals.

Saving a Million Hearts: Stress and Lifestyle

Dr. John Wilson, Dr. James Carter, Dr. Ellie Campbell discuss diet, stress, and lifestyle as they relate to cardiovascular disease. Includes reference to an Alpha-Stim study by ICIM member William Eidleman MD.

Saving a Million Hearts: Informed Consent

Dr. Terry Chappell and Dr. Russ Jaffe discuss the importance of having informed consents as part of the patient education process for integrative medicine and chelation therapy for cardiovascular disease.

Saving a Million Hearts: Testing for Risk Factors

Dr. Conrad Maulfair, Dr. Ellie Campbell, Dr. Robban Sica, and Dr. Joe Hickey discuss what cardiovascular risk factors should be explored for effective prevention of heart attack and stroke.

Saving a Million Hearts: Metabolic Syndrome

Dr. Joe Hickey, Dr. Robban Sica, Dr. Ellie Campbell, Dr. Conrad Maulfair talk about the testing they do to screen for Metabolic Syndrome in their integrative practices, and discuss what treatments they recommend to their patients.

Saving a Million Hearts: Testing and Treating Cholesterol

Dr Rick Mason, Dr. Joe Hickey and Dr. Garry Gordon discuss cholesterol’s role in heart disease- to test or not to test! What is the dietary impact? What kind of cholesterol should we focus on? HDL, LDL, lipids, proteins, triglycerides… what wisdom will the future of medicine hold? Is there a cholesterol propaganda scheme? What are treatment strategies?

Saving a Million Hearts: Blood Pressure

Dr. Joe Hickey, Dr. Lambert Paker, Dr. Muhammad Ashraf discuss blood pressure tips for check ups, monitoring and treatment.

Saving a Million Hearts: Toxic Metals Q&A

Dr. Robin Bernhoft, Dr. Jim Smith, Dr. John Wilson answer questions from some of the most experienced chelation doctors in the country about diagnosing and treating heavy metal toxicity, with a focus on EDTA chelation.

Saving a Million Hearts: Chelation Protocols I

Dr. Robban Sica, Dr. Terry Chappell, and Dr. Garry Gordon discuss the IV chelation protocols that they have used.

Saving a Million Hearts: Chelation Protocols II

Dr. Robban Sica, Dr. Terry Chappell, and Dr. Garry Gordon discuss the IV chelation protocols that they have used.

Saving a Million Hearts: Micronutrients 

Dr. Chuck Mary and Dr. Rick Mason, CoQ10, Magnesium, Copper and other micronutrients’ role in the body and for prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Saving a Million Hearts: Women’s Health and Allergy Testing in Cardiovascular Disease

Dr. Robban Sica, Dr. Russell Jaffe, Dr. Ellie Campbell, and Dr. John Wilson discuss the role allergies can play in cardiovascular disease, laboratory testing, and special considerations for women’s health.

Dr. Chappell’s article “Saving a Million Hearts can be found here

 

 

Three Chelation Physicians respond to the TACT I results

 “IMPORTANT NEWS FLASH FOR NATURAL MEDICINE”  Robban Sica MD

This week the long awaited results of a seven year research trial, known as the TACT trial, were finally released demonstrating a significant positive result of chelation therapy in the treatment of cardiovascular disease and prevention of negative outcomes of this disease such as stroke, heart attack, amputation and death. TACT, which is the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy, called on the expertise of university cardiologists and experienced chelation physicians from around the United States. The objective of the study centered on comparisons between patients with significant cardiovascular disease, who were treated with medication and intravenous chelation therapy to those receiving medication but no chelation. The results indicated significant improvement in patients with previous heart attacks who were already under cardiology treatment- especially patients with diabetes. The group treated with chelation had fewer subsequent surgeries than those who received a placebo. In addition, findings show chelation reduced death from heart attacks by 18% and over 39% for diabetics. Although, some among conventional cardiologists have already attempted to discredit this large and well-controlled trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Heart, Lung & Blood Institute as well as the National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, the results speak for themselves, especially in diabetics who are at extremely high risk for vascular diseases.

I have been administering the IV treatment since 1989 in my office and have personally observed remarkable improvements in many of my patients receiving chelation therapy, both for heavy metal detoxification and for heart and vascular conditions. As a result, I have been an advocate of chelation therapy for many years. Please call or contact us for more information.

 “LifeForce Newsletter on TACT”  John Parks Trowbridge MD

The take-home message: we do chelation very, very well – just come by anytime to talk with our patients and learn first-hand of their stunning successes. The NIH researchers just reported – at the American Heart Association meeting – that there were slightly fewer heart attacks (and deaths) and slightly fewer bypass operations and stents in the treated group. If this were a NEW drug, they would have reported on its stunning potential to reduce heart attacks. That’s because it’s easy to “lie” with how you interpret statistics.

But since the very beginning, I’ve said that the final report would be something like: “Review of the clinical experience suggests that chelation treatments might provide a small but encouraging benefit to a select group of patients. Further studies will be needed to determine whether this effect is real and also worthwhile.”

And that, my friends, is pretty much exactly what the report concluded! (How did I know? Could 29+ years of debating with “regular docs” have given me the idea that they really don’t want to acknowledge any improvements with chelation?) Diabetics got the best results. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve taught chelation extensively since 1984. I’ve written several books, articles, CDs, and DVDs (even an audiobook) on chelation – all available from our office, just DIAL 1-800-FIX-PAIN. I’ve lectured on chelation in Taiwan and Brazil. I’ve served for years on the board of our specialty organization – the American Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology – where I was certified as one of the first specialists in 1985.

Most importantly, I’ve been blessed to watch thousands of patients show dramatic improvements with their chelation treatment programs – saving limbs from amputation, reducing insulin dosages, improving physical performance, even helping mental clarity and depression. Have we been reducing heart attacks and strokes along with amputations? The list goes on and on. What was WRONG with the NIH study, that they didn’t see such dramatic results? Sadly, they offered only 40 treatments and NO “monthly boosters.” Their “multi-vitamin” dosages were smaller than ours. We focus on adjusting treatments to remove toxic metals (by using a variety of personalized FDA-approved medications), because our experience and studies show that these heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and so on) are directly related to inflammation and degenerative diseases, early aging, disability and death. And, of course, our iv treatment solution (which is customized for each patient) and nutritional support programs (also customized) are much more complex than the basic ones used in the study. (I do have a Master’s degree in nutrition as well as my M.D. degree and training.) The list is longer – but also boring.

The take-home message: we do chelation very, very well – just come by anytime to talk with our patients and learn first-hand of their stunning successes. (Or are you going to be one of the many who waits til some calamity occurs … and then jump on the “medical merry-go-round”? Which choice does your family deserve?)

 “My Impressions and Response to the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy Recently Completed by the NIH” Conrad Maulfair DO

Chelation Therapy is a wonderfully effective, safe, comprehensive program that can benefit people with chronic degenerative diseases.  People with conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, lack of energy and problems of aging can experience a resurgence of energy and life quality.  This program is not new.  It has been studied and offered to patients by many progressive physicians to hundreds of thousands of thankful people world wide for over 60 years.  Patients who receive chelation therapy experience their quality of life improve first hand.  The doctors who provide individualized programs enjoy their observations of their patients’ improvements.

It makes our day that we are no longer alone in these observations; the United States government via the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded a study on chelation therapy.  The study called TACT, Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy, started in 2003.  The results were just announced at the American Heart Association’s meeting November 4, 2012.  The results were positive.

People in this trial who received Chelation Therapy had decreased hospitalizations for angina, compared to the control group.  There were fewer deaths from heart attacks and strokes for the patients receiving chelation therapy.  The chelation patients also needed less bypass surgeries and angioplasties; the findings were especially positive for patients who also suffered from diabetes.  Chelation Therapy reduced cardiac events by 18% and by 39% for diabetic patients.  The total reduction in cardiac events was statistically significant.  Physicians conducting the study included university cardiologists and experienced chelation physicians.

Keep in mind  all study participants had a previous heart problem before beginning the trial, 83% had either bypass surgeries, angioplasty with or without stents. The majority of participants had high blood pressure and 73% had been prescribed cholesterol lowering statin drugs.  One thousand seven hundred people participated in the study.  An additional finding was the unquestionable safety of Chelation Therapy.

Considering the decrease need for angioplasty and bypass surgery would you be surprised to see the cardiology and cardiovascular surgeons less than enthusiastic about the study results?

Those of us who have been trained to provide Chelation Therapy for the benefit of our patients have known for many years the wide range of improvement possible for our patients.  Through thick and thin our care has been without support in the main from mainstream medicos, so we welcome the scientific evidence from a large clinical trial that confirms some of the many benefits we have observed in our patients.

Truth be told, however, if the study was not positive I would have continued to provide Chelation Therapy to my patient family and continued my own Chelation program.  I know the benefits of providing Chelation Therapy after forty years of providing this care in clinical practice.  I see PVD, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes abate all the time.  Some of our diabetic patients no longer require insulin injections.

I am willing to talk with any sincere person about any aspect of this study.  I welcome your questions.

 

Report on the Proceedings of a Summit on New Directions for Chelation Therapy

Participants in the Summit for New Direction in Chelation Therapy

From March 13 to 15, 2013, the International College of Integrative Medicine (ICIM) held a summit meeting about what should be accomplished next, now that EDTA chelation therapy has been supported as a useful treatment for vascular disease by the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT).  Experts from around the world were invited.  This paper is a summary of the conclusions and recommendations of this gathering.  Key presentations were given by Drs. John Trowbridge, Efrain Olzsewer, and Eleonore Blaurock-Busch.  Representatives from the U.S., Canada, Indonesia, Brazil, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Ecuador, and New Zealand participated, as well as the attendees for the Advanced Metals Workshop that was part of the spring meeting of ICIM.  Recordings of the lectures are available from icimed.com. This paper was prepared prior to articles on TACT published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in the March 27, 2013 issue.

Background

EDTA has been used as a treatment for vascular disease since Norman Clarke, Jr.’s work in 1952.  For a timeline of the many studies that have supported its effectiveness, see chelation.me.  In 1981, the AMA challenged the proponents of chelation therapy to produce a large-scale, randomized, controlled, clinical trial to prove its safety and effectiveness.  The members of the American College of Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) led by president Ross Gordon collaborated with Walter Reed Hospital to begin such a study for treatment of peripheral vascular disease in 1987.  Unfortunately, the first Gulf War took the investigators away from the study, and it was not completed.  In 1999, Congressman Dan Burton, Chair of the Committee on Oversight, held a hearing bringing together the head of the Heart, Lung, and Blood section of the National Institutes of Health and several physicians who testified about their experiences with chelation.  NIH subsequently called for proposals, and eventually TACT was funded, with Gervasio Lamas as chief investigator.

TACT was unique in that it combined university research cardiologists and experienced chelation specialists with private offices.  134 sites from the U.S. and Canada participated in the randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial.  TACT continued for 7 years, and included 1708 patients with documented previous heart attacks who continued to receive evidence-based therapy.  The primary end point was a composite of new cardiac events to include death, heart attack, stroke, hospitalization for unstable angina, and need for revascularization surgery.  TACT showed that the therapy was unquestionably safe, and the group treated with chelation therapy had fewer cardiac events, which was statistically significant.  The results were announced by Lamas at the American Heart Association meeting on November 4, 2012 in Los Angeles.  Publication of the results is pending.  The authors called for further studies to confirm the results and explore the mechanisms of action.

Where we stand now, according to the Summit

  1. TACT conclusively showed that chelation therapy used according to the recommended protocol is safe.
  2. TACT and the many other studies that proceeded it support the use of chelation therapy as an option for patients with vascular disease, especially for those who also have diabetes and those with a history of anterior wall myocardial infarction.
  3. There is not yet enough evidence to state that chelation therapy should be given to all cardiac patients.  More studies need to be done.  A duplication of TACT would be ideal, as long as it included heavy metal testing.  However, another $30 million to repeat the study might be difficult to find.
  4. Strong consideration should be given to doing a challenge test for heavy metals (especially lead) for all patients with vascular disease.  If high levels are found, the patients should be treated with chelating agents.
  5. Regulatory agencies, such as medical boards, should immediately stop harassing physicians who offer chelation therapy to their patients who give appropriate informed consent.  Physicians who offer chelation therapy have accomplished exactly what the AMA asked them to do in 1981 to justify its use.
  6. Most physicians who offer chelation therapy are happy to serve as consultants for placebo-controlled RCT’s, but are uncomfortable with the ethics of giving placebos to patients who have come to them for help.  Certainly, patients should not be asked to pay to receive placebos, especially for a potentially life-threatening illness.  Physicians who provide chelation are almost always convinced that in their experience the therapy is very effective.
  7. Many chelation doctors feel that their primary goals of showing efficacy and safety with a RCT have been accomplished with TACT.  Gaining FDA approval of EDTA for use in vascular disease is secondary, and they encourage qualified investigators to move in that direction.

Recommendations of the Summit

  1. More research should indeed be done on metal toxicity, free radical pathology, and on various diseases that have been linked to free radical pathology, especially vascular disease.
  2. Chelation doctors do not have the resources to fund or carry out clinical trials, but they do have the expertise to help plan them.
  3. The conditions that are most likely to show benefit with chelation treatment and thus should have the greatest research priority are as follows:
    1. Patients waiting to have limbs amputated due to non-infected vascular disease.  For end points, all that is needed is to count the remaining limbs.  Claus Hancke’s work is most impressive in this regard.

b. Walking distance and A/B index in patients with peripheral vascular disease.  In our experience, a very high percentage of patients improve.  Ffrain Olzsewer and Jim Carter documented this.  There have been a couple of negative studies published on this subject in prominent journals, but they have been seriously flawed. Stephen  Olmstead has written a good research protocol to evaluate chelation treatment for peripheral artery disease that is almost ready to go.  He is willing to share his work with others. Attendees to the summit expressed significant concern that opponents of the therapy might proceed with new studies that are designed to fail, which has happened in the past.

  1. Brachial artery stiffness and other measurements of vulnerable plaque.  Peter van der Schaar is beginning a study on arterial stiffness.
  2. Diabetic patients who have evidence of vascular disease.
  3. Patients who have suffered an anterior wall MI.
  4. Patients who have angina that is difficult to control with drugs.
  5. Macular degeneration.
  6. Patients who have been told that revascularization surgery is an option
  7. Quality of Life measurements should be included in all research projects.  Chelating physicians insist that their patients feel considerably better with long-term treatment, even though the relatively short follow-up in TACT detect significant improvement.
  8. Other areas that are important to study and are likely to show successful outcomes:
    1. Patients with hypertension and elevated lead levels
    2. Arterial intimal thickness and high resolution ultrasound of the carotid arteries (see the work of Robert Bard)
    3. Osteoporosis
    4. Mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease associated with heavy metal toxicity
    5. Autoimmune diseases, especially scleroderma
    6. Fibromyalgia with high levels of toxic metals detected with a challenge test
    7. Diseases that are familiar to the public should be studied in order to raise awareness and support for chelation.
  9. There are many biomarkers in the laboratory that can help examine the mechanisms of action of chelation therapy.  Expert biochemists (Blaurock-Busch, Jaffe, Quig) are happy to consult with investigators as to which ones are most appropriate to utilize in this assessment.
  10. Various combinations of chelating agents, and different doses of such entities as EDTA and vitamin C are important to study.
  11. Chelation therapy is useful to study at all stages, to include

a.     Preventive

b.     Pre-emptive (early signs of disease)

c.     Treatment of established disease

d.     Treatment following revascularization  procedures

e.     Maintenance treatments are very important

  1. Such international lecturers as van der Schaar, Olzsewer, Rozema, Hancke, Dooley, and Godfrey continue to teach physicians on how to use chelation therapy safely and effectively.  Organizations such as ACAM, ICIM, and A4M hold workshops in the United States.  Excellent recent textbooks have been published by van der Schaar and Blaurock-Busch (both are available through the International Board of Clinical Metal Toxicology).  There is a need to move toward consistent protocols and best practices.
  2. Studies must be well-designed and conducted so that clear outcomes can be readily understood and will resonate with a large portion of the population, as well as stimulate Congressional action.
  3. Use of NBMI—a compound being studied by Boyd Haley might turn out

to be a powerful therapeutic modality.

Conclusion

Raising public, political, and media awareness is now essential.  Experienced chelating physicians can help provide solid data to support general understanding of efficacy, mechanisms, and positive outcomes in the treatment of vascular diseases. Registries might be the best way for clinicians to collect data without the constraints of a RCT.  Self-insured corporations, such as Parker-Hannifin are now paying for chelation therapy.  Cooperation among organizations with similar interests, such as ICIM, ACAM, AAEM A4M, ABCMT, IBCMT, and specialized laboratories is strongly encouraged to standardize protocols and set up registries.  This can be done quickly and with minimal expense.  Physicians from around the world should be included.  Experienced chelating physicians can serve as consultants for researchers who are qualified to perform RCTs.  NIH and various foundations are encouraged to fund projects discussed in this paper.  Pollution with heavy metals continues to get worse, and evidence is mounting that their toxicity is an important factor in the development of chronic degenerative diseases.