You probably did not know much about lead until Chinese toys made headlines. This metal is in more than just toys – it is in most of our bodies. It is so toxic to the heart, kidneys, brain and blood vessels that there is no safe amount of lead in the body. Even small amounts of lead have been shown to lower IQ, raise blood pressure and may cause a host of other health problems. The good news is that there is a way to remove it.

How do you get exposed to lead?

Throughout the twentieth century, most cases of lead toxicity were seen in factory workers and other occupational exposures. Lead was once used in paint and in soldering for cans, but these have been eliminated. The amount of lead in gasoline was reduced in 1973, and gradually declined until 1995, when leaded gasoline was banned in North America

Until recently, we were exposed to less lead. Recently, significant amounts of this and other heavy metals have actually been blowing into our environment from around the world – across the Pacific Ocean. Another problem is that your body still contains most of the lead you have been exposed to in your lifetime.

Although blood lead levels decline dramatically within days, ninety-nine percent of the lead in your body is stored in bone. This lead slowly leaches out into your blood over time. This means that the lead in your blood is a tiny fraction of total amount of lead in your body.

Why is lead harmful?

The harmful effects of large amounts of lead were first noted in the kidneys over a century ago. Over the past twenty years, low levels of lead have been linked to kidney damage in many studies. It is not clear exactly how this happens, but it is clear that it does. One recent US study compared 4813 people who had high blood pressure to 10,398 people who did not. Among those with high blood pressure, people having high lead levels had ten times the risk of developing chronic kidney disease.

Another health problem that has put lead in the news is high blood pressure. The mechanism for this is also unclear, but many studies have demonstrated this. There is particular concern about women after menopause. Since bone is where most lead is stored, the loss of bone after menopause releases large amounts of lead. Most studies have estimated that lead increases the risk of high blood pressure by around fifty percent.

Lead is also harmful to the brain. Research shows that there is no safe amount of lead. Another study published in the New England Journal of Medicine compared IQ and lead levels in 172 children in Rochester, New York. Even though all the children had lead levels that are considered safe by the World Health Organization, those with the most lead had IQ scores 7.4 points lower than those with the least lead. There is also evidence linking lead and age-related dementia – which should come as no surprise – but this research is still inconclusive.

How do I get tested?

The most accurate test of the lead in your body is a challenge test. This tests the urine collected after an intravenous infusion of EDTA, the same substance used in chelation therapy. The lead in tissues becomes bound to EDTA, which carries it out of the body in the urine. Testing the urine after a dose of EDTA is as reliable as the gold standard measurement of total body stores of lead – x-rays of bone – accurate a very impractical.

Another way to test for lead contamination is by measuring levels inside red blood cells. These live for 100 days, so testing them can reveal how much you were exposed to in the past three months. Hair and urine tests have also been used but are much less reliable. The liquid part of the blood, called the serum, is where routine lab testing looks for lead. This test is basically useless except for a large, very recent exposure.

What is the treatment?

The good news is that removing this lead with chelation therapy can prevent kidney disease. Evidence of this treatment comes from Taiwanese study published in 2003 in the New England Journal of Medicine. In this double blind study, patients with mild kidney failure got intravenous EDTA chelation therapy or placebo. Two years later, kidney function got better in the chelation group and it got worse in the placebo group.

There have been no studies done to show that chelation therapy lowers blood pressure or improves brain function, but doctors and patients often note that this is the case. At present, the most common reason to seek chelation therapy is to treat poor circulation and cardiovascular disease. EDTA chelation has always been done intravenously (IV). It is possible to remove lead using rectal EDTA suppositories under the supervision of a physician, but this method probably does not offer the same benefit to the blood vessels. This is because the IV route leads to changes in parathyroid hormone, and this is believed to remove calcium from the hard plaque. EDTA should not be taken orally, and websites offering this shoud be avoided.

Our interest in health and the environment makes us especially interested in removing lead to treat disease. We are participating in the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy - a large, double-blind study sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health – to study the effect of chelation therapy in people over 50 who have already suffered a heart attack. For more information, contact us.

Lead is just one of many toxic metals that have been linked to many of the chronic diseases of aging. Mercury, Aluminum, Arsenic and Cadmium are other metals that may eventually be tested for and removed by every physician. Until that happens, those who want the best health possible might want to consider chelation therapy as a tool for prevention and longevity.