Please Note: Below is an excerpt from an article from the National Library of Medicine.

Metals play an important role in human biology. Iron is critical for oxygen transport in hemoglobin. Zinc is a critical part of the angiotensin converting enzyme metalloprotein. But there are many metals that have no beneficial role in human biology. These metals have been referred to as heavy metals, or toxic metals. The terms are imprecise because these definitions all relate either to specific chemical properties or atomic weight, or functional aspects in human biology. We will use the term xenobiotic metal to refer to those metals without any specific role in the human body.

The epidemiologic evidence that many xenobiotic metals are toxic is robust. For example, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are ranked among the top 10 on the current Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Priority List of Hazardous Substances. Arsenic, lead, and mercury are ranked as the top 3 hazardous substances (1).

Within the cardiovascular system, xenobiotic metals have been linked to worsening hypertension, atherosclerosis, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease (PAD). We highlight below two metals, lead and cadmium, with demonstrated hazardous effects on human health that could at least partially explain the beneficial effects of chelation therapy. EDTA chelates both of these metals. We emphasize, however, that other mechanisms may be at play, and that extensive work will have to be carried out to fully understand the mechanism of benefit of the TACT infusions.

To read more from the National Library of Medicine article titled "Chelation Therapy and Cardiovascular Disease: Connecting Scientific Silos to Benefit Cardiac Patients " written by Julio G. Peguero, MD, Ivan Arenas, MD, PhD, and Gervasio A. Lamas, MD, click the button below!