Are there any Risks or Side Effects?
The Doctors at Sunshine Health Care Center follow the protocol published by the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM) called “Guidelines for the Safe & Effective Use of Chelation Therapy”. According to Dr. Elmer Cranton, M.D., when following these procedures, only approximately 1 in 10,000 chelation patients will suffer serious side effects. 5
Some of the rarer side effects include allergic reactions to the IV fluid solutions, most commonly B vitamins, weakness and dizziness, nausea, malaise and fever. Most of these symptoms can be totally eliminated by adjusting the treatment rate and dosages. More commonly, patients complain about minor pain at the infusion site, and occasionally, for badly deteriorated venous structures, an IV infusion site can become infiltrated. This is a minor condition where the medication enters the surrounding tissue instead of the vein. If at any time during your treatment you feel uncomfortable or notice a problem, do not hesitate to alert a Doctor or Medical Assistant.
Like any medical treatment, there are risks involved, but we are very confident that IV Chelation Therapy has been proven safe and effective over the course of sixty years of trials and clinical usage. The FDA recognizes chelation therapy for the treatment of acute heavy metal poisoning of either lead or mercury. A urine collection will be ordered to determine your degree of heavy metal body burden. The “provoked” urine sample which we will use to determine your heavy metal load is not considered justification for chelation therapy by the FDA. Alternative Practitioners interpret the urine assessment as an indicator of a persons body burden of heavy metals. For best results, the body is “provoked” with a series of chelation treatments prior to the collection of urine. If the urine collection is not “provoked”, a false negative can result as metals such as lead can become heavily deposited in bone tissue and need to be pulled from the bone tissue with a chelating agent. A provoking agent such as EDTA is used in order to release the heavy metals into the blood stream which are then filtered via the kidneys and measured in the urine.
References:
1 A Guide to Chelation Therapy, by Dr. Lloyd Armold, DO
2 www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chelation?show=1&t=1313176885
3 Omura et al. 1996; O'Brien 2001
4 Forty Something Forever, by Harold & Arline Brecher
5 Dr. Elmer Cranton, MD, www.drcranton.com
* Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products and therapies, while proven beneficial, are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases.