Cardio Renew, a liquid sold at www.cardiorenew.com, claims its chelation therapy is effective at relieving hypertension. Its even made from “fresh ingredients,” though its only labeled ingredient, the chemical “ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid” doesn’t actually go stale or anything. But it does sound nice. I like my chemicals “fresh.” The comments below apply equally to all EDTA Chelation webaceuticals.
Cardio Renew works supposedly because it
binds the excess metals and minerals, like calcium, that collect in the plaque blockages in arteries. Once bound, the EDTA-calcium complex is removed from the body. Circulation improves as your body is better able to clear the plaque deposits and arteries become more elastic.
Claims from http://www.cardiorenew.com/ retrieved 7 Oct 2009.
Just one problem. Oral EDTA has never been subject to any clinical trials. But there is plenty of proof that EDTA itself doesn’t do anything for cardiovascular disease.
It is true that EDTA works on binding heavy metals such as lead. But against the calcium in hard plaque? Lets apply a bit of common sense. We need calcium. Calcium is transported throughout our body in the blood. EDTA is in fact a strong chelating agent, which means it will bond with metal ions and make them much less reactive. The Cardio Renew site claims that oral EDTA will bind with excess metals, like calcium, in arterial plaque and clear the arteries.
Calcium is used by our bones and teeth, in nerve cells to propagate an impulse, and by muscle cells to contract. Our bodies are awash in calcium – which is transported throughout the body in our blood. Calcium can be protein-bound, as ions, and attached to anions such as citrate, phosphate, and bicarbonate. EDTA may very well bind with the calcium ions in our blood. When the calcium level in our blood drops too low, it will be replaced by the calcium stored in our bones. It will never, ever affect the stable calcium salts occurring in arterial plaque. It will, however, bind with other metals in solution in our blood stream such as the necessary nutrient chromium and copper.
So does EDTA help cure high blood pressure?
In a word – no. EDTA helps with heavy metal poisoning. Its effect on serum calcium in the blood has no effect on calcium deposits in the arteries. A case on 1984 demonstrates this last point. A painter was found to have lead-induced hypertension. Multiple EDTA chelation treatments (actually a standard medical treatment for lead poisoning) reduced the lead in his system but did not control his blood pressure. What finally did get his hypertension under control? Calcium supplementation and a high-calcium diet.
Is anyone studing EDTA and cardiovascular disease?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) was launched with great controversy in 2003 and is ending now. This trial, which used intravenous rather than oral EDTA, has reported no positive findings. There have been quite a few problems, however, as reported in the medical and integrated medicine blogs following the study. For example, the Natural Standard questions the ethics of continuing the study. In fact, a group of physicians, reviewing the TACT, wrote:
The risks for chelation are more than trivial. The evidence against chelation is more than sufficient to disqualify it from further human trials. Experts in cardiovascular disease and in clinical trials, particularly those who are acquainted with the history and literature of chelation, agree with that assessment.
If EDTA worked, especially oral EDTA, it would be an extremely cheap alternative to surgery, and a simpler tool to use than the strict diets shown to reverse cardiovascular disease. But it doesn’t work. If there was an effective, inexpensive oral treatment for cardiovascular desease, the health insurance industry would have long ago pushed it to the front lines. No bypass would ever be approved unless a patient had tried and failed EDTA therapy. As it is, insurance won’t pay a nickel for EDTA therapy of any kind – and oral EDTA by definition would be the most ineffective delivery method. Comprehensive clinical reviews of EDTA found no evidence that it is safe and effective for treating cardiovascular disease.
Reference Notes:
- Why the NIH Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) should be abandoned.(PMID: 18596934 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE])
- Poorly controlled hypertension in a painter with chronic lead toxicity. (PMID: 11171531 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE])
- Cardio Renew is a registered trademark of Cardio Renew Inc.
