From lowering LDL cholesterol levels to targeting the inflammatory molecules involved in sepsis to treating cancer, therapeutic blood plasma exchange is being used to tackle some of the issues that plague us as our bodies age. In this piece, Lou Hawthorne takes us through his first hand account of getting therapeutic apheresis. Apherisis means “to take away” and is different from conventional drug therapies because it “involves drawing blood from the body and then separating it into components. The various cells are immediately returned to the body, while the liquid plasma is either processed further or discarded.” Lou’s treatment is overseen by Dr. Kiprov, “the world’s foremost experts in therapeutic apheresis; he trained in clinical immunology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.”
Lou is 60 years old and not suffering from any major diseases, so why is he undergoing this treatment? As he explains, he suffers, along with all of us, from aging. Lou is part of Dr. Kiprov’s study on aging that is starting with the hypothesis that “removing inflammatory cytokines and other pathogenic proteins from blood could potentially rejuvenate tissues throughout our bodies.” [1]
[1] https://neo.life/2021/06/perspective-therapeutic-plasma-exchange-the-future-of-aging/