Could plasma exchange therapy help you live longer?

A person's blood can accumulate potentially damaging particles that may be flushed out. Some anti-aging influencers, along with a handful of scientists, believe exchanging the plasma in a person's blood can help slow biological aging. 

One of the first trials examining plasma exchange for anti-aging in humans was published recently in the journal Aging Cell, offering early evidence that it may be able to slow the biological breakdown that comes with age, even in otherwise healthy people. Caroline Alquist, MD, PhD, interim co-director of the Hoxworth Blood Center at the University of Cincinnati, offered her take on the study to The New York Times.

Plasma exchange is a well-established treatment for certain blood disorders, autoimmune diseases and neurological conditions, and it’s typically covered by insurance when deemed medically necessary. It is not covered for anti-aging purposes.

The small study of 42 participants, with an average age of 65, found those who had plasma exchange therapy during the course of a few months had lower concentrations in their blood of the biological compounds that accumulate with age, compared with a control group. The trial was sponsored by Circulate Health, a plasma exchange startup.

Still, many other scientists who study plasma exchange are skeptical. Its anti-aging benefits for healthy people have not been proven in large clinical trials, and drawing blood and replacing plasma with added fluids could put patients at risk for unnecessary medical complications without a clear payoff.

Most of the research into the anti-aging benefits of plasma exchange has been done on animals, so the findings don’t necessarily carry over to humans, said UC's Alquist. Also, until now, the research in humans has focused on patients who already have an age-related disease. 

Read the open questions from this latest study as reported in The New York Times.

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