Artery Repair Chelation Therapy Gives Heart Disease Sufferers A Painless And Less Expensive Alternative To Bypass Surgery Or Angioplasty
Beep, beep … Beep, beep …
The sound of the EKG machine blared constantly as I lay flat on my back in the emergency room. An oxygen tube up my nose and an IV in my left arm conspired to keep me immobile.
Earlier, I had finished an hour or so working out on a treadmill, stair climber, cycle and with weights followed by a well-earned sauna. This year I was going to crush my brother in downhill skiing. At least that was my plan.
Until now.
I just had a heart attack. Me. The guy who exercised, never smoked, rarely ate red meat and even fewer hamburgers. Strictly a fish-and-chicken sort of guy. Yeah, I was overweight according to some charts: that’s why I was in the gym. Besides, I don’t know anyone above 50 who meets those guidelines.
Beep, beep … Beep, beep …
Several people peered, poked and probed me with medical instruments. A nurse placed a small pill under my tongue. I felt the annoying sting of nitroglycerin. Isn’t that the stuff miners use to blow holes in the ground? And they placed it under my tongue?
Beep, beep … Beep, beeeee …
I knew THAT sound meant trouble. SERIOUS trouble. So this is how it ends. I felt very calm. The drugs?
No! I’m not ready to push up daisies, I thought. Got a lot of things left to do and see. Beat my brother. Finish my novel. No, damn it. I’m not going.
Beeeeeeee …
Three hours and a helicopter ride later, I was in a Spokane hospital recovering from angioplasty. That’s when a tube is stuck in your leg’s artery, shoved up into your heart and expanded, opening the artery’s clogged portion. The operation was successful and I was told I’d go home in four days.
My wife called friends to be with us in spirit during our moment of need. She also prayed for both our deceased mothers to stand at the end of “tunnel” and not let me through if I got that far. I guess they obeyed.
The next day a friend visited me at the hospital and told me about a method that would unclog my arteries without surgery.
“Chelation,” he said. “My father had open-heart surgery, after which the doctors said his arteries were so plugged that he only had three months to live. They couldn’t do anymore for him. That was eight years ago. Now he plays 18 holes of golf a day without a cart.”
Yeah. I was skeptical about “miracle treatments,” but decided to check it out anyway. Chelation therapy seemed more viable than having one’s chest split open for bypass surgery. (Since 40 percent of angioplasties fail within three months, bypass surgery is often the next procedure.)
So my wife and I interviewed a doctor who does chelation and his patients.
Archie M., 66, of Canada. He had to lie down after one minute on a treadmill. “The doctor told me I was a walking time bomb: ‘You need bypass surgery. Now.’ When I asked about the balloon treatment, he replied, ‘We’re beyond that.’ “
Fortunately, this procedure had a year’s backlog in Canada. After five months of chelation, Archie was once again able to chop wood and walk up his driveway - free of chest pains. That was four years ago.
Dr. King, 67, Montana. He was always active, but by 1993, he couldn’t walk three blocks without serious chest pain. That December, King had angioplasty, but by May the angina attacks returned. In August, he began chelation and noticed “marked improvement” after only nine treatments. Now he’s able to spend 40 to 50 minutes on a stationary bike without pain or difficulty.
Robert P., 53, Montana. Robert suffered from chest pains the last four or five years. Last November, he had angioplasty and his doctor recommended immediate bypass surgery, but Bob didn’t have insurance or the money to pay for it. Last January, when the chest pains returned, he began chelation and now the chest pains are infrequent. He’s convinced he wouldn’t be here if not for chelation.
Joy K., 67, Idaho. Lack of circulation caused her toes to turn black. Doctors said she would have to have her legs amputated at the knee or she would die. After four chelation treatments, her toes regained their normal color. She now walks two miles a day.
Chelation therapy uses an intravenous infusion of a manufactured amino acid, ethylendiamine tetracetic (a protein-like substance), which builds up on artery walls, thereby increasing the vessel’s diameter and allowing more blood flow.
The usual routine is 20 procedures, although some patients have shown benefits sooner. Cost varies, but it ranges from $50 to $110 per session, depending on geographical area. Either amount is considerably less than the cost of angioplasty or a bypass, neither of which eliminates the cause of the plaque build-up. Insurance does not cover chelation (except in Florida, where it has been prescribed solely to remove heavy metals from blood).
The painless procedure is simple, legal and safe. Under the supervision of a doctor, a micro-needle is inserted into a vein and 500 milliliters of solution is dripped into the patient’s body.
Chelation therapy has been used to remove lead from the blood since the end of World War II, and in the 1950s, some patients noticed that after chelation, they no longer experienced angina attacks. Research began, but was dropped when the drug’s patent expired. During the mid-‘60s, bypass surgery was the medical establishment’s choice procedure.
Being able to share this knowledge is probably one of the reasons I’m still here.
For more information regarding chelation therapy or qualified doctors in your area, contact the American College for Advancement in Medicine, the organization that provides training for doctors, at (800) 532-3688.
MEMO: Alan Brown is a Coeur d’Alene resident.