Why Detox Therapy Needs A Clean-up
The Age
Tuesday February 10, 2004
It started off as a detox treatment. Now it's gone to court with a claim for $250,000 compensation. The detox treatment was chelation. A little-known therapy that leads a double life. In mainstream medicine it is the standard treatment for poisoning by heavy metals. In alternative medicine it claims to cure so much more.
The word comes from the Greek word for claw - chele. A compound is introduced into the body, usually by injection, that "claws" onto heavy metals travelling the bloodstream. The metals are then excreted, expelled from the body.
Chelation is good at tackling poisons. Excessive amounts of iron, lead or even arsenic can be quickly and reliably expelled. Investigations continue into other mainstream medical uses: late last year University of Melbourne researchers published results indicating that chelation may help to stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease by preventing toxicity.
Orthodox medical practitioners are keen, however, to distance themselves from chelation's alter ego. Since the 1950s, alternative medicine has seized on its ability to detoxify, claiming that the removal of toxins from the bloodstream can improve concentration, increase energy and tackle other disorders.
The treatment has also been touted as a cure for heart trouble. Since the chelate commonly used - EDTA - is good at removing calcium (plumbers used to use it to clean pipes and boilers), the theory goes that chelation therapy clears calcium deposits in blocked arteries, preventing heart attacks and the need for heart bypass surgery.
This claim, however, remains unproven, as Ken Hough from Queensland found out to his cost. Hough was 55 when he saw a doctor offering chelation therapy in 1996. Despite the fact that chelation has never been shown, to the satisfaction of mainstream medicine, to be an effective treatment for blocked blood vessels he was told that EDTA would clean out his arteries, giving him more energy.
Within minutes of treatment he suffered a heart attack. A team of paramedics fought hard to resuscitate him. Today Hough has permanent heart damage. He is currently suing the doctor for $250,000.
"It's open slather," says Dean Stibbe, the lawyer pursuing the case. "This case will force the Federal Government to take steps to regulate this treatment and not allow private doctors to use it without a legitimate reason."
The case is the first of its kind to be heard in Australia. While alternative practitioners' use of chelation therapy has come under heavy scrutiny in the US, there has been little investigation here. While it is now illegal in the US to claim that chelation therapy clears blocked arteries, it remains legal to make the claim here.
Whether Hough's claim for compensation succeeds or not, Dean Stibbe believes the case will force doctors throughout Australia to be more open and accountable when it comes to chelation therapy. At present, very few doctors advertise the procedure as chelation - preferring, instead, to use the term "detox".
"We're opening a can of worms," says Stibbe. "We've been told that some doctors are telling their patients not to refer to the treatment as chelation on their Medicare forms, so they can claim part of it back as a detox procedure on Medicare."
Evidence is mounting that chelation therapy itself needs a thorough clean-up.
© 2004 The Age