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You wrote:
>
>Has anyone out there had experience with or knowledge of chelation
therapy as
>it relates to Parkinson's.  My sister's neurologist has mentioned that
this
>might be beneficial to her but we would like to know if anyone on the
list
>knows about it.  Thanks for any help you may be able to give.
>Virginia Krabbenhoft
>
 
Virginia,
 
There is no evidence that "chelation therapy" does *any good* for
Parkinson's Disease (or just about anything else except heavy metal
poisoning).  There are many scams out there which will take your money
and give you nothing.
 
There is a condition, Wilson's Disease (hepatolenticular degeneration)
which has symptoms similar to PD (because it affects the same areas of
the brain), which is caused by an hereditary defect in the metabolism
of copper, and which sometimes can be managed with the chelation
(binding and excretion) of copper from the body; but this is a rare
disease and has nothing to do with PD.  There have been some posts here
recently about Wilson's Disease, and it was accurately stated that the
diagnosis is relatively easy, with the patient having a blue-green ring
around the pupil (Kaiser-Fleischer ring) and abnormal amounts of a
substance in the blood (called ceruloplasmin).
 
In summary, "chelation therapy" has no use in Parkinson's Disease.
 
 
Best,
 
Bob
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Robert A. Fink, M. D., F.A.C.S.   Phone: 510-849-2555
Neurological Surgery              FAX:  510-849-2557
2500 Milvia Street  Suite 222
Berkeley, California 94704-2636
USA
 
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