Rapha Health Blog

Can it treat heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and memory loss?

by Cris Enriquez, M.D.

Chelation therapy is a widely used and an FDA-approved treatment in the United States, Europe and other countries but not so well known in the Philippines. However, with the opening of Rapha Health Institute at Greenbelt 5 in Makati City,  this is one of the many modalities used to manage heart attacks, strokes, peripheral vascular disease, complications of diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heavy metal toxicity from smoking or other exposures. In the Philippines, it is considered the best-kept secret in Medicine.

If a heart attack is not managed properly, serious complications an develop, one of which is congestive heart failure. Heat Failure affects about 4.6 million Americans. About 550,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 680 people die each day from cardiac arrest. Approximately 95% die before they reach the hospital. Heart attack and stroke, the #1 and #3 causes of death respectively, in America, are responsible for at least 2600 deaths every day.

Traditionally, cardiovascular diseases are treated with an ever-widening array of interventions, ranging from blood thinning medicines to open heart surgery. Angioplasty with stents have been extensively utilized to open up coronary circulation. Cardiac catheterization is now commonplace as a diagnostic procedure to assess the degree of blockage in the coronary arteries. But this is an invasive procedure that can cause a multitude of complications including death.

There are less invasive diagnostic tests that can be done without the threat of complications such as MRA and CardioVision, the latter used extensively by the Rapha Health Institute to assess the degree of elasticity or rigidity of arteries such as the coronary arteries. Non-surgical preventive therapies can be instituted following an abnormal CardioVision test and angioplasty and coronary artery by-pass surgeries can be done only when absolutely necessary and as a last resort.

Prevention is universally accepted as preferable to late stage interventions, and prevention of cardiovascular diseases is foremost since they account for 53% of all deaths in America or other developed countries for that matter.

Yet, despite diligent efforts by many individuals to overcome cardiovascular challenges, they are still at high risk. Their arteries have accumulated so much plaque and toxic materials that they must be systematically cleansed.

Chelation, a process of removing toxic materials from the body, has been shown to be effective at improving the cardiovascular system. It uses a non-toxic synthetic amino acid, EDTA, to remove heavy metals such as lead and others. It involves the infusion of intravenous fluid using a mixture of vitamins and amino acids, which usually runs for 1 ½ to 3 hours and given as often as necessary. Unless chelated out, heavy metals remain in the tissues and can cause a myriad of symptoms and diseases. The removal of these toxic metals is done by chele, a Greek word that means “to attach like a lobster claw” then excreted through the urine.

It is my honest belief that chelation is completely safe and can be used complementarily with other treatments. If done according to our very strict guidelines and protocol, even minor untoward effects are prevented. Anyone who has a history of heart disease, even those who had undergone by-pass surgery, those with history of stroke and other circulation problems and those with diabetes should have chelation therapy. There are two theories that seem to explain why chelation is beneficial: (1) it makes the blood vessels pliable and stretchable that when blood passes through, the arteries open up, and (2) it removes the calcium thus softening the plaques. Most important, however, is patients feel better.

One of my patients, Daniel G, from New York comes down to our clinic in Florida to have 2-3 treatments every 5-6 weeks. He started out feeling terrible and could not walk more than a few dozen yards without chest pains. He refused surgery and began chelation treatments and was later able to walk around the block without stopping. “They said I had to get surgery or I’d die. I was scared because I lost my brother to by-pass surgery. So I went for chelation instead, and now at age 89, I can do everything a man in his 30’s can do, albeit a little slower,” he says.

According to The Townsend Letter, a medical journal respected by the preventive/natural health community and a large number of MDs, chelation has been shown to reduce the build up of calcium in blood vessels Casdorph (2002). Tens of thousands of chelation patients have testified of better quality of life and health recovery as a result of chelation. I, for one, had a coronary by-pass surgery 14 years ago, before I learned of chelation therapy and except for chelation, vitamins and other supplements, I refused and I do not take prescription drugs. And I am a cardiologist.

Daniel says, “I had to prove it to myself. So after therapy, I walked up twelve flights of stairs. Before chelation, I couldn’t even walk around the block.” DG’s own younger brother had the same problems with plaques and clogging in his heart arteries but vehemently refused to have chelation therapy, and opted to have coronary by-pass surgery instead but died following surgery.