In his quest for wholeness, wellness, health, and systemic balance for his patients, Dr. Dennis Fera of Holistic Health & Medicine in Hillsborough uses many tools. One of the most important in many instances is chelation therapy. Another is Meridian Stress Assessment (MSA) testing, invariably coupled with the need for chelation therapy.

"Chelation therapy is, in fact, a safe, effective, and relatively inexpensive therapy we use to restore the blood flow in patients who have arteriosclerosis, often overcoming the need for bypass surgery. And it is effective treatment for other health problems, as well," says Dr. Fera. "Many of my patients who enjoy good health get regular chelation treatment as a preventive health measure—to keep circulation open and free to all organ systems.

"I have a special interest in chelation therapy because vascular diseases are so common and remain the leading cause of death in this country and in much of the industrialized world. Most of my patients over the age of 40 have some type of discernable circulatory problem, brought on by a host of factors such as air pollution, impure water, poor nutritional value of our foods, poor diet generally, harmful lifestyle choices such as smoking, extensive use of pesticides and chemicals in the environment, and toxic metals everywhere that put a constant strain on our cells.

"When blood vessels become blocked by plaque, blood flow to vital organs is reduced, starving them for oxygen and other nutrients. The loss of circulation caused by this ‘hardening of the arteries’ can lead to heart disease, stroke, and memory loss. It can also prevent sores from healing, and lead to gangrene in feet and legs, especially in patients who have diabetes."

MANY BENEFITS

Chelation therapy is the use of an FDA-approved drug with the shorthand acronym of EDTA. It is a synthetic amino acid that has the ability to attach itself to metals and minerals, forming a bond called a chelate.  Properly administered, notes Dr. Fera, "EDTA chelation therapy offers patients many benefits, including:

• removal of harmful minerals such as lead, aluminum, mercury, cadmium, and nickel from the body;
• help in reversing plaque build up in arteries;
• removal of calcium from soft tissues, blood vessel walls, joints and organs (where it does not belong), while depositing it in the bones where it does belong;
• reduction of iron and copper in the blood, which are known to stimulate ‘free radical’ damage leading to harmful inflammation; and
• help in making red blood cells more flexible while
  improving circulation."

And, Dr. Fera notes, when discussing chelation therapy it is proper to place emphasis on the phrase properly administered.

"Chelation therapy can be problematic if it is not done with care and understanding. A recent patient, I’ll call him Mr. Fox, offers a good example of what I mean. "He was atypical in a number of ways: retired, independently wealthy, he is still engaged in a nationwide search for the perfect place to live. He spends two or three months in a location to check it out, as he did here. "Now in his mid-60s, he is active, athletic, and meticulous in his record-keeping. He came here after receiving 55 chelation therapy treatments in a number of medical clinics throughout the country.  Generally he felt fine, but he was surprised and disturbed that he still had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. "High blood pressure after so many chelation therapies made me suspect the possibility of mercury poisoning, which had not been considered in his earlier treatment therapies, so I referred him to Marla Fera for MSA testing."

THE ROLE OF MSA

Certified as a naturopath and trained at the highest levels as a Meridian Stress Assessment practitioner, Marla Fera has remarkable skill in measuring the body’s energy system. She uses a sophisticated, computerized system that measures the flow of energy using acupuncture meridian readings. In simplest terms, MSA measures whether a body’s organ systems are under stress or functioning in a more stress-free manner. With great accuracy, MSA can, for example, determine whether a patient will benefit from chelation therapy.

"When Mr. Fox tested with me, he did not test for EDTA chelation therapy," Ms. Fera remembers. "He did, though, come close to testing for DMPS chelation, which is mercury-specific. And he did test for glutathione and thiotic acid intravenous treatments—both are much milder chelators—and for vitamin C. When Mr. Fox had his thiotic acid IV, he had a major detoxification reaction and felt quite ill."

Sometimes such a strong reaction to a mild therapy confirms for Dr. Fera that he is on the path of discovery. He explains, "after this relatively mild chelating treatment, Mr. Fox’s reaction strongly suggested he was highly mercury-toxic, and in fact, when we retested with MSA, we got confirmation of that fact. Now, with the mercury beginning to be stirred up in his system, he eventually tested for DMPS treatments—the mercury-specific removal therapy.

"As he was doing the DMPS treatments, a toxic analysis showed a mercury level off the chart. For Mr. Fox, all of his EDTA chelation therapies were beneficial in many ways, and almost certainly removed some of the mercury in his system. But the mercury was so tightly bound to his tissues, that until we loosened its grip and used the powerful mercury remover DMPS, he would have remained mercury toxic.

"After 55 EDTA chelation therapy treatments, this patient was still highly mercury-toxic, because the mercury had not been sufficiently loosened from his tissues. His high blood pressure was an important symptom and a clue. After completing the DMPS chelation therapy, his blood pressure and cholesterol levels are improving, as is his mercury level. He also feels better than at any time he can remember. MSA played an important role in solving this patient’s health problem."

A POWERFUL POISON

How serious is mercury toxicity?  Mercury is a powerful poison," says Dr. Fera. "Very small amounts can damage the kidneys, liver, and brain. Years ago, workers in hat factories were poisoned by breathing the fumes from mercury used to make felt. A common outcome was mental impairment—which gave rise to the expression ‘mad as a hatter,’ the source of the Mad Hatter character in Alice in Wonderland.

"Two major sources of mercury in our polluted world are fish and dental amalgam fillings. In addition, we pump thousands of tons of mercury vapor into the earth’s atmosphere each year. Researchers in holistic medicine that I know personally have stopped eating fish altogether. Half of the lakes in this country contain fish contaminated with unhealthy levels of mercury, because fish concentrate mercury in their tissue.

"Untreated, mercury poisoning can eventually cause pain, numbness, weak muscles, loss of vision, paralysis, and even death. We find in this practice that illness with ill-defined symptoms, such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, in many instances have heavy metal toxicity as a principal cause. As we are constantly exposed to environmental toxins, they gradually build up in our tissues. And there are serious, adverse effects, as well, from constant exposure to lead, aluminum, mercury, cadmium, nickel, and other toxins in our environment."

PROPERLY ADMINISTERED CHELATION

A key point about this experience with Mr. Fox is that chelation therapy must be preceded by appropriate testing and, often, with preliminary IV therapies such as glutathione and thiotic acid, as well as supportive nutritional IVs. Notes Marla Fera, "Sometimes patients will come here who simply say they want chelation therapy and nothing else. That was the case of one woman, who simply did not test for chelation. So she went elsewhere, out of state, for a series of chelation treatments, and  became quite ill. Finally she came back to us with a better understanding of the need to prepare the body well in advance for the systemic treatments of removing toxic metals from the system."