Young blood transfusion - Misplaced Pages

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Young blood transfusion refers to transfusing blood specifically from a young person into an older one with the intention of creating a medicinal benefit.

Research

Experiments at Stanford University on pairs of old and young rodents placed into parabiosis suggest that the circulation of blood from young mice seems to invigorate older mice. Parabiosis experiments are difficult to generalize, as the circulatory systems of the mice are fully joined and it is unclear whether the benefits come from the sharing of blood or the older mouse's access to the younger mouse's organs. A study conducted at UC Berkeley found that blood from older mice caused the younger mice to become as decrepit as their older counterpart, the aged blood actually inhibited the formation and regeneration of brain cells. While the older mice saw many benefits such as increased muscle repair. Conboy’s research suggests that one day aged people will go to a medical facility to get their blood cleared of proteins that may build up and promote aging, possibly through Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) utilizing young plasma.

Research on blood transfusion outcomes has been complicated by the lack of careful characterization of the transfusion products that have been used in clinical trials; studies had focused on how storage methods and duration might affect blood, but not on the differences among lots of blood themselves.Furthermore convoluting the media releases concerning young blood is that major Universities and institutions performing the research are not releasing their data to the public, potentially for monetary gain by producing a patentable, “miracle” protein fraction all the while with the knowledge that aging and overall systemic health is governed by a whole host of proteins, hormones, minerals and organic compounds found in native human plasma: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4889822/.

A new study is underway out of the Neurology Center in Houston, TX utilizing young plasma sourced from volunteer donors ages 18 to 25 to treat Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Preliminary data yielded positive results in both diseases, with continuing outcome updates to be presented at the Spring 2019 A4M Congress in Orlando, Florida.

Commercial development

Ambrosia

A startup company, Ambrosia, has been selling "young blood transfusions" for $8,000 since 2017 under the guise of running a clinical trial, to see if such transfusions lead to changes in the blood of recipients. As of August 2017, they had 600 people join. The clinical trial has no control arm and so is neither randomized nor blind. The company was started by Jesse Karmazin, a medical school graduate without a license to practice medicine. David Wright is the licensed doctor overseeing the clinical trial; in his practice he administers intravenous treatments of vitamins and antibiotics for nontraditional purposes and was disciplined by the California Medical Board for the latter in 2015. Jonathan Kimmelman, a bioethicist from McGill University, suggests that Ambrosia is running this trial as they would be unable to get FDA approval to sell this treatment otherwise.

Alkahest

Another company, Alkahest, was founded based on the Stanford rodent studies. As of 2017 it is collaborating with European pharmaceutical company Grifols to create a blood plasma-based experimental biologic drug which they propose to test on people with Alzheimer's.

Young Blood Institute

As of 2018 another organization, the Young Blood Institute, promotes young blood transfusion. Like Ambrosia's, its trial had no control and charged the participants for entry, in this case $285,000 per person.

Dipnarine Maharaj was running the trial; he has offered both traditional treatments and nontraditional treatments such as stem cell banking in the past. Additionally, he has ties to the Hippocrates Health Institute, an organization promoting unproven alternative medicine. The Young Blood Institute's trial has been promoted by Bill Faloon, who founded the Life Extension Foundation, which was raided by the FDA In 1987 for illegally importing medicine in a later-dropped case.

Young Plasma Study

A study that is currently underway out of the Neurology Center (Drs. Cherches and Patton) in Houston, TX utilizing young Fresh Frozen Plasma (yFFP) sourced and tested from donors ages 18 to 25 to treat patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. The study has infused 40 patients total in a randomized double-blind study, with half being given young plasma and half placebo. Patients were not charged for this trial, unlike the above researchers utilizing conventional FFP. Patients are being tracked for six months with one-month, three-month, and six-month follow ups. Preliminary results were presented by Dr. Dian Ginsburg at the Winter 2019 A4M Conference in Las Vegas, NV and a press release stated that the participating physicians are “cautiously optimistic” about the efficacy of young plasma on their patients. Full one-month results will be released in February, 2019.

Dr. Ginsburg will present three-month results from the study to the Spring 2019 A4M Congress in Orlando, Florida the 17-18th of May. Unlike the other researchers, this data is being released publicy as the study is ongoing, as to not hide a potential treatment plan for patients living with these diseases. Information regarding this study and the therapeutic use of yFFP can be accessed at https://www.youngplasmastudy.com.

References

^ Novella, Steven (3 August 2016). "Parabiosis – The Next Snakeoil". Science-Based Medicine.
Scudellari, Megan. "Ageing research: Blood to blood". Nature. Springer Nature. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
Regalado, Antonio. "Old blood is bad for young mice—like, really bad". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
Ning, S; Heddle, NM; Acker, JP (January 2018). "Exploring donor and product factors and their impact on red cell post-transfusion outcomes". Transfusion medicine reviews. 32 (1): 28–35. doi:10.1016/j.tmrv.2017.07.006. PMID 28988603.
^ de Magalhães, JP; Stevens, M; Thornton, D (November 2017). "The Business of Anti-Aging Science". Trends in Biotechnology. 35 (11): 1062–1073. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.07.004. PMID 28778607.
^ Haynes, Gavin (21 August 2017). "Ambrosia: the startup harvesting the blood of the young". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
^ Maxmen, Amy. "This startup takes cash from aging adults in exchange for young people's blood". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
Drew, L (27 September 2017). "Neuroscience: The power of plasma". Nature. 549 (7673): S26 – S27. doi:10.1038/549S26a. PMID 28953857.
^ Robbins, Rebecca (March 2, 2018). "Young-Blood Transfusions Are on the Menu at Society Gala". Scientific American. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
"The Hippocrates Health Institute: Cancer quackery finally under the spotlight, but will it matter?". Science-Based Medicine. 2015-02-23. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
Funcheon, Deirdra (2015-05-12). "South Florida Church Pursues Eternal Life Through Cryonics, Inflaming Critics and the IRS". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
Almond, Steven (1994-06-08). "They're Gonna Live Forever". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
"Young Plasma Study | United States | yFFP". Young Plasma Study | United States | yFFP. Retrieved 2019-01-30.