After reading "Detox with Oral Chelation" by Gordon Garry and being in the process of going through "Bypassing Bypass Surgery: Chelation Therapy: A Non-surgical Treatment for Reversing Atherosclerosis" by Elmer M Cranton I have come to the conclusion that I need to revise my stance on EDTA chelation therapy.
Previously (as discussed in the Hemochromatosis thread) I believed that EDTA therapy might be an option for those that cannot decant blood to lower their iron levels (e.g. due to anaemia), but that for the majority of us decanting would be the way to go. However I believe now the two things (EDTA and iron) to be somewhat distinct elements.
EDTA seems to have a plethora of benefits that may or may not have to do with iron directly. The way EDTA shows benefits has not been fully elucidated, the main theory being en vogue at the moment is "free radical scavenging".
The major effects of EDTA on the body are:
- of course chelating metals ... with the highest affinity to lead, mercury, cadmium and iron. Calcium and magnesium seem to be quite low in this order, and whenever a EDTA molecule loaded with Ca or Mg encounters another of the above it will switch over to it (which is good).
- EDTA seems to have a stimulating effect on mitochondria
- EDTA controls free radical damage, which causes lipid peroxidation, which again causes damage to fatty membranes. Lipid peroxidation is greatly speeded by the presence of abnormally located metal ions such as excess iron.
- Abnormally high concentrations of essential nutritional trace elements in blood-deprived tissues can also act as metabolic poisons. EDTA removes and redistributes these elements.
- EDTA enhances the integrity of cell membranes by controlling oxidative damage.
- EDTA helps reestablish prostaglandin hormone balance, which in turn reduces arterial spasms, blood clots, plaque formation, and arthritis.
- EDTA protects the integrity of platelets.
- EDTA normalizes calcium metabolism. One fear is that EDTA may deplete the body of much needed calcium in the bones. Studies have shown that EDTA may actually enhance bone growth and is thus a therapy against osteoporosis.
- EDTA increases tissue flexibility by uncoupling age-related cross-linkages.
- EDTA encourages overall metabolic efficiency to tissues without the need for enhanced blood flow to these. This is probably one of the reasons why sufferers of ischemic disease show marked improvement, without the narrowing having changed at all.
So I think now that EDTA surely is a beneficial addition to our health and that it should be added to decanting blood (not as a either/ or).
The next question is how and how much ...
There are two ways of doing a EDTA chelation therapy: intravenous and oral.
Intravenous therapy is in my opinion reserved for symptomatic cases that need to get somewhere fast. It takes around 3-4 hours per course and needs to be done in a practice of some kind. Oral therapy is more of a long-term project, but is safe and doesn't require the services of a doctor. EDTA is cheap and can be ordered online.
As to oral formulations, to me it seems that liposomal EDTA is the way to go ... now how to manufacture it?
The dissolution of EDTA is apparently not that easy. Here is the recipe that I have found on the net:
1. Add 18.6 g of EDTA to 80ml of distilled water, or multiples of it (gives a 0.5 M solution)
2. Put everything on a magnetic stirrer (or similar contraption) and add NaOH pellets to bring the pH up to 8.0. You will need around 2.2 g. EDTA doesn't dissolve in solutions with different pH, so slowly add NaOH and let the EDTA dissolve. CAUTION: NAOH is very caustic, be careful handling it. Never put water into NaOH, always the other way round.
3. If the EDTA doesn't dissolve, make sure that your pH is around 8.0. You may also have to add a bit of heat to facilitate dissolution.
Next, on to the liposomal formulation:
The liposomal formulation commercially available on the net seem to have quite low concentrations of EDTA per unit of volume. One of the formulations available here gives a concentration of 1.5g of EDTA and 4g of lecithin per 10ml. So that is the concentration that I will attempt to fabricate. In addition to that I will add PEG-4000 to improve immunologic stability of the nanoparticles. One paper that I read quotes 6 mol% of PEG. Haven't really worked out yet how much that is - maybe if anyone has a bright idea, I would be very grateful. Otherwise I will just use a random amount. Maybe 5% of the weight of the lecithin, giving me coverage of 5% of the surface - I know this is a bit of a long shot ....
Next is the question of how much:
Normal EDTA is very poorly absorbed so it needs to be taken twice daily. It remains in the body only for a very short time (1 hour) before being excreted in the urine. EDTA undergoes no modification in the body whatsoever.
Liposomal formulations are almost as efficient as the intravenous solution. The dosage quoted on different websites is 1 - 1.5g of EDTA 2 - 3 times per week. It should not be forgotten to add a mineral supplement to the regime (magnesium probably being the most important, as well as potassium) and this is best not taken together as there is a concern that EDTA will mop up the valuable minerals that you ingest together with it. Some doctors say that this doesn't happen, because the affinity of the "good" metals is different to the "toxic" metals.
Disclaimer: I haven't done the above process myself yet, as I am still waiting for my NaOH pellets to arrive. I hope that this is somewhat helpful to others to get started. Of course this seems to be a fairly involved process, so maybe buying the liposomal EDTA off the shelf may be more appealing to others. Do your own research and verify all dosage and advice given above.
I will report back when I have done my first batch!
Bottom line for me is that I think with all the heavy metal toxicity so widespread around our planet that EDTa is beneficial to just about anyone around!
Previously (as discussed in the Hemochromatosis thread) I believed that EDTA therapy might be an option for those that cannot decant blood to lower their iron levels (e.g. due to anaemia), but that for the majority of us decanting would be the way to go. However I believe now the two things (EDTA and iron) to be somewhat distinct elements.
EDTA seems to have a plethora of benefits that may or may not have to do with iron directly. The way EDTA shows benefits has not been fully elucidated, the main theory being en vogue at the moment is "free radical scavenging".
The major effects of EDTA on the body are:
- of course chelating metals ... with the highest affinity to lead, mercury, cadmium and iron. Calcium and magnesium seem to be quite low in this order, and whenever a EDTA molecule loaded with Ca or Mg encounters another of the above it will switch over to it (which is good).
- EDTA seems to have a stimulating effect on mitochondria
- EDTA controls free radical damage, which causes lipid peroxidation, which again causes damage to fatty membranes. Lipid peroxidation is greatly speeded by the presence of abnormally located metal ions such as excess iron.
- Abnormally high concentrations of essential nutritional trace elements in blood-deprived tissues can also act as metabolic poisons. EDTA removes and redistributes these elements.
- EDTA enhances the integrity of cell membranes by controlling oxidative damage.
- EDTA helps reestablish prostaglandin hormone balance, which in turn reduces arterial spasms, blood clots, plaque formation, and arthritis.
- EDTA protects the integrity of platelets.
- EDTA normalizes calcium metabolism. One fear is that EDTA may deplete the body of much needed calcium in the bones. Studies have shown that EDTA may actually enhance bone growth and is thus a therapy against osteoporosis.
- EDTA increases tissue flexibility by uncoupling age-related cross-linkages.
- EDTA encourages overall metabolic efficiency to tissues without the need for enhanced blood flow to these. This is probably one of the reasons why sufferers of ischemic disease show marked improvement, without the narrowing having changed at all.
So I think now that EDTA surely is a beneficial addition to our health and that it should be added to decanting blood (not as a either/ or).
The next question is how and how much ...
There are two ways of doing a EDTA chelation therapy: intravenous and oral.
Intravenous therapy is in my opinion reserved for symptomatic cases that need to get somewhere fast. It takes around 3-4 hours per course and needs to be done in a practice of some kind. Oral therapy is more of a long-term project, but is safe and doesn't require the services of a doctor. EDTA is cheap and can be ordered online.
As to oral formulations, to me it seems that liposomal EDTA is the way to go ... now how to manufacture it?
The dissolution of EDTA is apparently not that easy. Here is the recipe that I have found on the net:
1. Add 18.6 g of EDTA to 80ml of distilled water, or multiples of it (gives a 0.5 M solution)
2. Put everything on a magnetic stirrer (or similar contraption) and add NaOH pellets to bring the pH up to 8.0. You will need around 2.2 g. EDTA doesn't dissolve in solutions with different pH, so slowly add NaOH and let the EDTA dissolve. CAUTION: NAOH is very caustic, be careful handling it. Never put water into NaOH, always the other way round.
3. If the EDTA doesn't dissolve, make sure that your pH is around 8.0. You may also have to add a bit of heat to facilitate dissolution.
Next, on to the liposomal formulation:
The liposomal formulation commercially available on the net seem to have quite low concentrations of EDTA per unit of volume. One of the formulations available here gives a concentration of 1.5g of EDTA and 4g of lecithin per 10ml. So that is the concentration that I will attempt to fabricate. In addition to that I will add PEG-4000 to improve immunologic stability of the nanoparticles. One paper that I read quotes 6 mol% of PEG. Haven't really worked out yet how much that is - maybe if anyone has a bright idea, I would be very grateful. Otherwise I will just use a random amount. Maybe 5% of the weight of the lecithin, giving me coverage of 5% of the surface - I know this is a bit of a long shot ....
Next is the question of how much:
Normal EDTA is very poorly absorbed so it needs to be taken twice daily. It remains in the body only for a very short time (1 hour) before being excreted in the urine. EDTA undergoes no modification in the body whatsoever.
Liposomal formulations are almost as efficient as the intravenous solution. The dosage quoted on different websites is 1 - 1.5g of EDTA 2 - 3 times per week. It should not be forgotten to add a mineral supplement to the regime (magnesium probably being the most important, as well as potassium) and this is best not taken together as there is a concern that EDTA will mop up the valuable minerals that you ingest together with it. Some doctors say that this doesn't happen, because the affinity of the "good" metals is different to the "toxic" metals.
Disclaimer: I haven't done the above process myself yet, as I am still waiting for my NaOH pellets to arrive. I hope that this is somewhat helpful to others to get started. Of course this seems to be a fairly involved process, so maybe buying the liposomal EDTA off the shelf may be more appealing to others. Do your own research and verify all dosage and advice given above.
I will report back when I have done my first batch!
Bottom line for me is that I think with all the heavy metal toxicity so widespread around our planet that EDTa is beneficial to just about anyone around!
