One of the ways we recommend that all patients improve their health status is to be tested for heavy metals and then, if they are found to have a significant load, to undergo Chelation therapy. The recommended way to be tested for heavy metals is through a urine challenge test. This type of test is necessary for several reasons. It is superior in determining your body’s toxic load. If you had severe heavy metal poisoning- in fact you could be on your death bed- and your your blood was tested for heavy metals, chances are it would be normal. How can that be? Heavy metals do not stay in your blood but are absorbed into bone, fat tissue, and neurological tissue—especially the eye. The key to measuring the heavy metals is to force them into the blood and urine and then measure the levels. This is done by a challenging agent which makes the metals that are stored in fat tissue and bone more soluble and then this solution moves into the blood and urine. This is the way it works: a chelating agent is given, and then urine samples are collected and analyzed to measure the amount of heavy metals. Common chelating agents used are EDTA and DMSA. A measured amount is given either orally or intravenously depending on the weight, age, health, and heavy metal to be studied. Urine is then collected over 6 to 24 hours. This specimen is then sent to the laboratory for analysis. This gives a much better indication of stored metals than does a blood test for the reasons explained above. A person who has significant levels of toxic metals should seriously consider undergoing Chelation therapy. Chelation therapy is the removal of heavy metals through the urine and feces, once they have been chelated out of the tissues and into the waste stream. The technique is done by introducing chelating agents, or chemical compounds that bind to the metals and help remove them. In the body, the chelating agent reacts with metal ions such as lead, mercury, calcium, iron and aluminum and combines (i.e. bonds) with the ions, forming a more chemically stable compound. The human body cannot break down this non-soluble compound easily, and it can be excreted, removing the metal along with it, through both the urinary and excretory systems.