Longevity science

Cardiology | LOS ANGELES — Patients with a prior MI given weekly infusions of chelation therapy experienced fewer CV events than patients who received placebo infusions, according to new results from the TACT trial.

 

 

Dr. Terry Grossman discusses:

 

Conventional medicine does not typically support chelation as a treatment for heart disease saying there is no good evidence that it works.

 

The results of the TACT (Trial to assess Chelation Therapy) are in.

 

The results were presented at the AHA (American Heart Association) meeting yesterday. 

 

This was the first well designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of chelation therapy EVER and it showed that EDTA chelation therapy resulted in fewer cardiovascular events than placebo – particularly for diabetics.

 

The major benefits were in the reduction of revascularization procedures, likes stents and bypass surgery.

 

The 1/3 of subjects who were diabetic had a hazards ratio of 0.61. so diabetic subjects were 39% less likely to need stenting or bypass if they got chelation than if they got placebo, with a p value of 0.002 (this means a 2 in 1000 probability these results were due to chance).

Analysis suggests stents aren't as beneficial as previously thought.

 

The analysis included results on more than 7,200 patients enrolled in eight studies between 1997 and 2005 comparing stents with medical therapy in stable heart patients with narrowed sections in their heart arteries.

 

It was time to look at updated data, according to the researchers on this case. Acting on these results could save the health care system over $9,000 per patient and cause fewer complications with the less invasive methods.