NIH Trail Gives Surprising Boost to Chelation Therapy - Essay Example

1708 heart attack patients were randomized to receive 40 infusions of 500ml chelation solution or a placebo 40 infusion to an oral vitamin and chelation solution or oral placebo (Research Grant, 2012). Researchers found that patients receiving the chelation solution had fewer serious cardiovascular events than the control group 26% vs. 30%, and the trial was conducted in 134 sites in the United States and Canada from 2002-2012. However, the article fails to report that there was a high dropout in the placebo group than in the chelation. They were getting a placebo and the side effects of it. The Chelation group was significantly different in life outcomes measured with the assessment, as opposed to the Placebo group. According to the CNN analysis, the four percentage point difference between them was “barely statistically significant”.

The difference may have been by chance not because chelation actually works or they necessarily have bad side effects. The high dropout contributed to less accuracy in the study. It is less valid. I personally think that the study was a waste of money and time. The study took long and the results obtained were not significantly different from other medicines used.