Unlike most of the salesman who call themselves physicians, I will not be selling products. I will however go into great detail discussing the many safe and effective natural and integrative therapies that are superior to the standard and customary drug and disease care that dominates in this country.

Please feel free to join the discussion by offering your feedback and comments. I only ask that your comments are rooted in a foundation of integrity and intellectual curiosity and are free of sales leads, promotions and foul language. It would be nice if my children could read the comments without polluting their young minds with mindless chatter.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Hampton

Although the term ”chelation”  has nearly become synomymous with the IV form of EDTA, there are many forms of chelation as well as many different routes of administration.  The forms of chelation include DMPS, DMSA, glutathione, various amino acids, some botanical substances, Vitamin C, and of course EDTA.

The routes of administration of chelation include oral, dermal, rectal and intravenous. The oral form is very poorly absorbed and is minimally effective, though it is better than nothing. The dermal form is rarely used and is best if used with DMSO as a carrier, but people will emit a strong garlic like odor during and for a few days after treatment. The rectal form is better than both oral and dermal, but as you might imagine, this method is not a particular fan favorite.

The best and most effective admistration form of chelation is through the direct infusion into the vascular system via intravenous therapy. While most people tend not to be overly enthusiastic about the thought of needles, the therapy itself is actually rather comfortable and relaxing after the little stick of the needle being  inserted into vein to begin the infusion.

The duration of treatment depends largely upon the type of chelator that is used. If Calcium EDTA is used, which is very effective to remove toxic heavy metals, the IV time can be as little as 10 minutes. Usually, other ingredients are included as well, thus increasing the overall volume of fluid, which will increase the infusion time to 20 or so minutes.

If Disodium EDTA is used, an IV drip consisting of 250 cc of carrier solution is used and can take 90 minutes to 2 hours. The treatment is comfortable. Most people like to read a book or magazine and others prefer to watch a DVD on the LCD TV while they get the treatment.

Chelation therapy is a great therapeutic choice for anyone interested in removing toxic heavy metals, chemicals and reducing oxidative  stress while generally improving your body’s nutritional status.

The father had heard about me from a friend and called to achedule an appointment. The boy appeared well developed and nourished and did not have any noticeable problems in my office. His physical examination was unremarkable. But during our conversation and history intake, the topic of nutrition and eating habits came up, as it usually does.

It has been my personal and professional experience that everything we put into our mouths will ultimately have biochemical consequences, good, bad or indifferent.  His breakfast and dinner meals were varied and were reasonably healthy, but lunch, expecially during the week, raised some red flags. His dad made his lunch everyday and always, always, made his sons favorite sandwich, peanut butter and jelly on wheat bread. This is what the boy ate everyday at school during lunch time.

From a clinical perspective, the repetitive consumption of any food or drink, no matter how healthy the choices may be, ultimately and potentially render the body’s immune system vulnerable and hyperactive. We can handle some bad things for a short time and some good things for a longer time, but eventually, in some cases, the body begins to react aggressively against the offending food or drink resulting in symptoms that mimic asthma. Of course all suspected cases of  asthma should be taken seriously as the constriction of airways is a potentially serious problem that may need to be treated with medication until the underlying cause can be discovered.

There is always an underlying cause. And in all cases of asthma, the underlying cause of asthma is not a deficiency of steroid inhalers or antibiotics!

After a thorough evaluation of this boy’s condition, we elected not to prescribe any additional medications. Instead, my recommendation was to eliminate peanut butter from the boys diet for a minimum of two weeks. After two weeks a follow up visit would determine what progress, if any,  had been made.

The boy and his father returned to myoffice two weeks later. Dad just looked at me for awhile without saying anything. I began to feel a bit uncomfortable. The dad finally said, “you know doc, we have seen many doctors and tried many drugs trying to help my son, then we came to you and all you did was tell us to stop eating peanut butter!”

He went on “I thought you might be a bit crazy”. But he said they would try it anyway just to see what would happen. So I asked him how the boy had been doing the past two weeks, hoping to hear good news. The father reported that within two days of eliminating the peanut butter his sons cough went away! His wheezing went also went away. In fact, all of his symptoms completely went away. Without drugs, steroid inhalers or antibiotics.

Dad was happy that we solved his sons dilemma, but he also expressed some anger and frustration at the same time, because he had spent alot of time, effort and money trying to deal with this issue with no results.

You see, his son did not have asthma at all, he only had a strong hypersensitivity to peanut butter,  and most other nuts too.

This in only one case of hundreds I could talk about, but the bottom line is this; do your homework and ask questions of your doctor whenever the word asthma comes up. The majority of the diagnosed cases of asthma are heavily influenced  by food, drink, chemicals and other environmental factors. A comprehensive history and detailed conversation, and occasionally a blood test, is usually all that is required to identify the underlying cause of so called asthma.

Powerful medications are certainly necessary and helpful in many cases, but are not always needed or necessary. I am not against medications as I do prescribe them as necessary on a case by case basis. But as good and helpful as medications can be, it is most important to take the time required to learn what is causing a condition or illness instead of simply covering up the symptoms with drugs. We must treat the cause.

For the past 75 years or so, and especially since the advent of penicillin, a medical system based solely upon the germ theory of disease has been the dominant medical model. The idea has been that a germ, a virus, bacteria, parasite or fungus is the root cause of disease. Therefore, all that is needed to combat disease is to develop a weapon against the germ. Hence the development of antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, antiparasitics, etc. This approach is merely an extension of the war like mentality that has plaqued humans for generations. Have an enemy, find a way to eradicate or kill it.

This approach has clearly been effective, as countless lives have been saved from almost certain doom. However, this approach had initially failed to take into consideration that germs have their own innate intelligence and have a strong will to survive in the face of adversity. These germs have learned to change and alter their form to become resistant to our germ fighting weapons.

Today, antibiotic resistance is posing a serious threat even within the ivory towers of the medical establishment. As a result, our weapons against many germs are worthless and we are losing the war. This form of medicine is called conventional or orthodox medicine.

In order to succeed against the proverbial enemy, the germ, we must learn to cohabitate with them instead of creating stronger drugs that will ultimately generate greater resistance. This can be accomplished by integrating several forms of medical theory into a single cohesive medical model.

By integrating conventional medicine with the best of naturopathic and homoepathic medical models, we can learn to harmoniously coexist with the germs while creating an internal health environment that is condusive toward health promotion and disease resistance.

Natural therapies stimulate the body’s innate healing response by providing the body with those substances it needs to function at an optimal level.

Regardless of the inevitable disagreement between the medical camps, there is no denying this simple fact: disease and illness are not caused by a lack of medication! Drugs are clearly helpful and even life saving in many circumstances but they rarely, if ever address the root causes of illness and disease. The underlying cause of most disease processes is toxicity and/or deficiencies and imbalances in the materials thatallow our bodies to function. These materials include, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, fatty acids, amino acids, oxygen, water, just to name a few.

Once we provide the body with those substances it requires and remove from it those things it does not need, the body will naturally begin to return toward a state of health and well being.