BEAT HEART DISEASE WITHOUT SURGERY: CASE HISTORIES AND COMMENT

Presenting case histories to illustrate and support the cause of a major therapy which has not yet been generally accepted is a responsibility which requires diligent research, not just for supportive evidence but also for its counterpart.

During 1987-8, while considering the subject of chelation for inclusion in the fortnightly alternative health column I then wrote for the Guardian, I tried to find people who had had negative experiences. The fact that they were not to be found I attributed as much to early cases being in extremis with their circulatory condition, and therefore well pleased with any results they received than to the success of the treatment – after all the first clinic in London had only opened in 1985, and they and their patients were still finding their way.

However, continued evidence of patients’ general experience of abatement in physical symptoms, such as claudication, angina, breathlessness, TIAs (Transient Ischaemic

Attacks – little strokes), cold extremities, sight and hearing problems, varicose vein ulcers, gingivitis, diabetes/demand for insulin, etc, suggested it was the therapy that was working rather than their pressing need for it. That it was working in extremis made it all the more remarkable. Furthermore, improvements often continued for months or years after the treatment course had ended.

During, or soon after, the treatment people found they could run for the bus when they could not walk more than a few steps before: they could lower their drug dosage and sometimes come off supportive medication altogether. In general they spoke in glowing terms of how they could now get on with their lives.

High blood pressure was one symptom which almost generally abated, sometimes to normal levels. Since high blood pressure damages artery walls, stresses the heart and exacerbates arterial disease this was significant.

I spoke to some of the patients that I had spoken to before. An overview was emerging of feelings of general wellbeing and homeostasis (that is, health remaining stable), but did they need further treatment? Some did, some didn’t – it varied.

In Holland, the most senior of all the European chelating physicians, Professor Van Der Schaar (since 1979 he has given over 110,000 treatments to over 5,000 patients), gave his professional opinion that a treatment every 17 days was the ideal mode for those with established or advanced arterial disease. In London, pioneer patient, Valerie Tomkins, said she had settled on a maintenance programme of one treatment about every six weeks. In her seventies now, she is typical of patients having chelation therapy for whom it is not surprising that they will have to work harder to maintain homeostasis than people in their forties and fifties with little disease.

There are however a number of patients who seem to be able to change and adapt their lifestyle sufficiently not to need top-ups at all, or only sporadically. Valerie Tomkins admits she has a stressful family life which has persisted since her heart attack in 1983.