The decade-long study found that chelation slightly reduced the risk of heart problems, mostly in people with diabetes. But the researchers say that the benefit is so slim that it could have been due to chance.
The findings were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Watch a video by the Journal presenting the study: youtube.com/watch?v=Tk63bhR-_rs
Among the 1,708 heart attack survivors enrolled in the study, 26.5 percent of those randomly assigned to chelation later experienced a heart problem, compared with 30 percent of those randomly assigned to a placebo.
Chelation therapy most often involves the injection of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, a chemical that binds, or chelates, heavy metals, including iron, lead, and mercury. While chelation has been practiced for decades, it’s considered an alternative treatment, and there are real risks, critics say. When administered too quickly, the treatment can lead to a fatal drop in calcium levels in the blood.
The study "should serve to dissuade responsible practitioners from providing or recommending chelation therapy for patients with coronary disease," the journal’s editors wrote in an editorial. ABC News reported that the study, however, could be misused as a tool for practitioners to further market the procedure.
Access the study: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1672238