Table of Contents:
1- What is Therapeutic Apheresis?
2- Why is it performed?
3- What does it consist of?
4- Preparing for Therapeutic Apheresis
5- Care after the procedure
6- Alternatives to this technique
1. What is Therapeutic Apheresis?
Therapeutic apheresis is an extracorporeal circulation procedure in which blood is filtered with a device that retains specific pathogenic or pathological harmful substances.
It requires special equipment and specially trained personnel for its correct execution. It has a purely therapeutic purpose and eliminates harmful substances, but maintains in the blood the healthy and necessary components.
2. Why is it performed?
Filtration allows the elimination of certain pathogenic substances and, therefore, is a therapeutic alternative for the treatment of certain diseases where conventional treatment has not obtained the desired response or has failed.
It is especially indicated in the treatment of chronic diseases such as autoimmune diseases, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Lyme disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
3. What does Therapeutic Apheresis consist of?
This technique consists of channeling a line in each arm of the patient, one for the blood to enter and the other for the blood to leave, so that the blood circulates through a sterile circuit. This extracorporeal circuit through which the blood circulates is connected to a machine that filters the plasma cells.
After passing through the filter, these cells immediately return to the patient’s bloodstream so that, once the procedure is finished, the harmful substances and pathogens have remained in the filter and the “purified” blood plasma has returned to the patient.
Immunocomplexes, inflammatory cytokines, excess cholesterol, harmful proteins, heavy metals, chemicals and mycotoxins are retained in this filtrate.
Therapeutic apheresis filters the blood with a device that retains harmful substances.
that retains harmful substances
4. Preparing for therapeutic apheresis
As in any intervention of this importance, analytical tests must be performed beforehand to know the necessary parameters and to protocolize the procedure for each patient.
No special indications are required from the patient for the preparation, except to have had a hearty breakfast or meal and to drink at least 2 liters of water before the procedure.
5. Post-procedure care
Recovery is immediate and does not require a specific protocol after the procedure, since the patient can lead a normal life at the end of the test.
6. Are there alternatives to this treatment?
Due to its peculiarities, it is not comparable with other treatments and it is difficult to propose alternatives to Therapeutic Apheresis.
However, it is important to point out that not all apheresis is identical and its efficacy may vary depending on the design of the apparatus and the specific filters used in each case.