When medical researchers first investigated the phenomenon known
as hardening of the arteries (closely related to ), they
discovered that the damaged, brittle vessels found in people
with heart disease were lined with calcium deposits. Naturally,
this finding inspired the notion that calcium deposits were the
cause of the problem. Some early researchers investigated the
possible therapeutic effect of removing such deposits. However,
subsequent research indicated that the calcium deposits of
atherosclerosis were a symptom rather than a cause, and
mainstream interest turned elsewhere. Certain physicians
nonetheless maintained an interest in removing calcium; thus
chelation therapy was born. Chelation therapy for heart disease
consists of intravenous infusions of a chemical called EDTA
(ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). This synthetic substance is
used in conventional medicine to remove heavy metals, such as
lead, from the body, but it also has an effect on calcium, which
is why it came into use in chelation the