During World War I, the use of poisonous gas was in place. Chelating agents were first used during this time period. The first of them was British Anti Lewisite also called BAL. This was the name given to Dimercaprol. This is an organic compound that is related to mercaptans. These mercaptans are organic compounds that contain sulfur. But, what does all of this really have to do with what they can do? Well, mercaptans are able to react to the bad metals that are within the body to capture them or to form compounds with them. In this case, the lewisite gas was an arsenic type of organic compound that was used in poisoning the enemy. BAL was able to bind the arsenic compounds from lewisite within the body. This then allowed them to be removed from the body without any harm being done to them.

Later, there were other chelating agents discovered to be used as well. These bind with metallic ions and render them less chemically reactive. This then allows them to be excreted from the body without any harm.

Conventional Medicine And Chelation Therapy

In conventional medicine, there are several ways in which these chelating agents can be used. Although it is rare for them to be needed and used, they can provide a safe and excellent way to treat several conditions.

They can be effective in treating such conditions as:

• Acute Mercury poisoning
• Plutonium poisoning
• Arsenic poisoning
• Iron poisoning
• And lead poisoning.

They can also be useful in treating other conditions as well as other heavy metal poisonings. In any case that they are used, though, the patient’s health must be in a good deal of risk to warrant them being used. Heavy metal poisoning is quite detrimental to the body. In many cases, significant damage can be done to virtually every organ of the body due to the effects of this poisoning. One example is mercury in which neurodegeneration can happen. Chelation therapy can help to remove these toxic compounds from the body without damage as long as preformed correctly and within the right amount of time. The Chelation therapy can be used to treat in several methods including through intravenously, orally or through intramuscularly.

Alternative Medicine And Chelation Therapy

There is another side to chelation therapy though. It has been used to treat conditions such as coronary artery disease and many other degenerative diseases. In alternative medicine, they are provided through intravenous forms and are believed to reverse or slow down the progression of these conditions including age related disease.

One case in which alternative medicine gives help with the use of chelation therapy is with those children effected by autism. This condition is a neuro-developmental problem. Those that use alternative medicine may believe that the condition is caused by the exposure to heavy metal poisonings. And, for that, the chelation therapy can be helpful.

More and more individuals are seeking out chelation therapy to treat many of their disorders. But, it is a widely debated topic. Some claim that the therapy can help to repair all sorts of damage while others believe it is much too dangerous to do so. There are some dangers that can happen through the use or misuse of chelation therapy. For example, it can decrease blood coagulation and hyprocalcaemia.

Yet, for many, chelation therapy is one in which there is strong hope. The conditions of the use and of the abilities of these treatments range by those who are using them as well as the poisoning that has been had. When it comes to the use of chelating agents in the body, it can be said that there is a good belief that they can help in extracting poisonous heavy metals from the body.

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