ber die laquo;Omnipotenz>> der Chelattherapie

About the 'Omnipotence' of the Chelation Therapy In the eighties the 'method of treatment proven in many thousands of cases over 20 years' was transferred from the USA to Germany (enjoys a priori considerable faith) using very dubious promises. It was Clarke et al. who introduced this 'therapy' in 1955. The dubious promise was to maintain that the chelation therapy eliminates or alleviates symptoms in the case of the following illnesses: Alzheimer's disease, senility, schizophrenia, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, gout, renal calculus, apoplectic coma, gallstones, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, varicose veins, hypertension, failure of memory, scleroderma, Raynaud's disease, digitalis intoxication, intermittent claudication, diabetic ulcer, disturbance of the blood supply, ulcer on the legs, snake poison, impotence, emotional difficulties, defective hearing, vision disorder. There is not the slightest proof of effectiveness for any of the listed indications. The burden of proof lies with the supplier. Even in the case of the relatively often examined peripheral atherosclerotic changes (claudicatio intermittens) there is no proof that EDTA has a greater effect than placebo. For coronary heart disease too there is no evidence for any usefulness of the chelation therapy beyond that of a placebo effect. Only controlled studies can help to improve the therapy in the sense of 'Evidence-based medicine'. Retrospective investigations on thousands of patients cannot 'prove' anything, although this is maintained again andagain.