Trace Element Medicine and Chelation Therapy

This book discusses, in relatively simple language, the importance of even minute amounts of certain trace elements for the protection of human health and how insufficiency or excess may produce serious diseases. It also examines the use of metal chelators in the treatment of such diseases. Trace Element Medicine and Chelation Therapy looks at the role of metal ions in the evolution and development of living systems and reviews the elemental composition of the human body, the essential biochemistry of metal ions, metal complexes, and the concepts of chemical speciation, as well as the interactions of metals with chelating agents, ligands and drugs. The problems of delivering adequate amounts of trace elements to the human body and the roles of metal containing drugs are also discussed, while the role of chelating agents in the treatment of both spontaneous and accidental overload and the dietary and environmental aspects of such treatment are both comprehensively reviewed. Trace Element Medicine and Chelation Therapy will assist chemists in understanding more about these metal ions and the influences of industrialization and pollution, and will illuminate physicians involved in administering chelation therapy. It illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of the subject and will be of immense interest to students and researchers in chemistry, biochemistry, nutrition and food science, environmental sciences, pharmacology and medicine, as well as to school science teachers and scientifically oriented members of the public.