Antiaging Interventions: Chelation Therapy

Chelation therapy is a general term for treatment methods that use chelating agents to form complexes with metals and excrete them from the body. The term “chelation” is said to originate from the Greek word “chele,” meaning “crab’s claw.” The human body maintains its physiological functions through the action of various metal atoms, but the presence of metals in excess of the necessary amount or harmful metals is not desirable as it produces excessive free radicals and inhibits cellular metabolic functions. Chelation therapy is attracting attention in antiaging medicine because it is expected to have therapeutic and preventive effects on arteriosclerosis and to normalize biological functions by removing harmful metals. Its origin dates back to the metal ligand theory proposed by Alfred Werner in 1893. In the 1940s, Na2EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), one of the chelating agents, was used as a treatment for lead poisoning and hypercalcemia. Furthermore, in the 1950s, it was reported that the symptoms of ischemic heart disease improved with the administration of Na2EDTA, and it was effective in the treatment of angina pectoris [1]. Since then, EDTA chelation therapy has been used as a noninvasive treatment for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in a wide range of countries, including the United States, Europe, Brazil, and Southeast Asia. However, there was no solid evidence that chelation therapy was beneficial for atherosclerotic diseases, and the evaluation of this treatment had not been settled for many years. Therefore, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a related agency of the U.S. government, started a 5-year clinical trial, the TACT (trial to assess chelation therapy) study, in the spring of 2003, with an investment of 30 million US dollars. This study is a double-blind trial to evaluate the therapeutic effect of EDTA chelation therapy on patients with a history of myocardial infarction. The results were published in the JAMA journal in 2013, and it was reported that it has a preventive effect on myocardial infarction [2]. After more than half a century, the effect of chelation therapy has finally been properly evaluated. In addition, this clinical trial highlighted the significant effect of preventing recurrent myocardial infarction in diabetic patients, and since 2017, a clinical study focusing on the effect of chelation therapy in diabetic patients, TACT2, has been conducted [3].