Atherosclerosis progresses daily in the larger heart vessels but is also taking place even in the tiny blood vessels which, of course, cannot be reached by the surgeon's knife.

If the cell cortex of the arterial tissue is weakened by any change in body function that allows more calcium to enter, a degenerative condition commences. Body function change can be caused by a number of things: stress, trauma, metal poisoning, nutritional deficiencies, amino acid deficiencies, inorganic mineral overloading and autonomic nervous stimulation.

When these membranes are destroyed, enzymes are released, thus injuring the cell which then develops a diseased state. There are three basic layers of an artery. The inner layer (intimate), the middle or muscular layer (media), and the outer (adventitia).

Lipid peroxidation is a degenerative process of the cells comprising the arterial wall. EDTA tends to help protect these inner cellular membranes by removing metallic ions involved in peroxidation.

Arteriosclerosis is a term used in a broad general description of a number of pathological conditions. This includes thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of blood vessel walls, including arteries.

Atherosclerosis is a form of arteriosclerosis in which lipid-containing material (fat) has accumulated within or beneath the intimal surfaces of blood vessels. Atheromas are also called plaques.

When the inner cell layer is injured it allows cholesterol, fatty materials (lipids), proteins, mucopolysaccharides, minerals, including various calcium complexes, cell debris and parts of bacteria and virus to be deposited. This yellowish material called plaque, or atheroma, develops in the intima and media layers of the large arteries. Calcium is not the only mineral contained in these plaques. During chelation, some of them are removed along with the calcium. The calcium and these other minerals act as a cement binder of the other materials.

Calcium in the plaque, however, is loosely bound (electrostatically) and is readily removed by the bloodstream after being chelated. The EDTA literally claws the minerals out of the plaque.

After removal of the calcium and mineral deposits on the arterial wall, the cholesterol and other fatty substances in the arteries making up the plaque are softened and exposed to the blood which, with the proper nutrition, exercise and medication, is able to metabolize these deposits, breaking them into smaller molecules, thus producing energy and waste material in the process.

The unwanted materials are bound to the EDTA and pass through the bloodstream and are excreted with the urine by the kidneys. Other microscopic particles and molecules are consumed by macrophages in the bloodstream or are filtered out by the liver, converted into bile, and excreted through the intestinal tract. This frees the artery of the deposits and it is restored to a much healthier state.

The gradual removal of the calcium and other minerals from the plaque is what allows the interior enlargement of the arterial wall and allows more blood to flow. This series of events results in the blood vessels being opened and providing a fairly normal flow of blood, particularly when compared to the decreased flow before the chelation process was instituted.