Chelation may help some heart patients: study [View all]

[Celebration]

http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Modern+Medicine+Now/Chelation-may-help-some-heart-patients-study/ArticleNewsFeed/Article/detail/795356?contextCategoryId=40131

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A controversial therapy to remove heavy metals from the bloodstream was shown in a large trial to cut the risk of another major heart problem in patients who have already suffered a heart attack, but researchers cautioned that the benefit was small and more study is needed.

Chelation therapy, an alternative treatment dismissed by many medical professionals as quackery, has its origins in unproven 50-year-old theories about the cause of arterial plaques.

Despite no clear evidence of a benefit, and the real risk of side effects such as low blood calcium levels, a 2007 survey found that over 100,000 U.S. heart patients had undergone the $5,000 treatment.

The results, released here at a meeting of the American Heart Association, showed that 26% of patients given a series of chelation infusions had a heart attack, stroke, coronary revascularization, were hospitalized for angina, or died, compared with 30% of patients treated with a placebo.

Much of the difference between the two groups was in the need for repeat angioplasty, and patients with diabetes showed the biggest benefit.