This month, the first clinical trials of a longstanding antiaging theory will begin in Monterey, California. Doctors will withdraw blood plasma from young people less than 25 years of age, and inject it into relatively healthy, middle to old-age volunteers. The hope is that the young plasma will improve the memory of the older persons, as well as provide benefits to their muscles, heart, brain, and other organs.
The plasma transfusions are a new spin on an a theory called parabiosis, which was first attempted in mice in the mid-1800s. Parabiosis is a technique in which two living organisms are joined together surgically and develop single, shared physiological systems, such as a shared circulatory system. While the donors and acceptors of the new plasma transfusions will not be surgically paired, scientists are hoping to mimic the effects of pairing, and that the young plasma will slow, or even reverse the natural aging process.
The trials will transfuse roughly 1.5 liters of plasma over 2 days. Prior to the procedure and one month after, the blood of the volunteers will be assessed for more than 100 biomarkers that typically fluctuate with age, from hemoglobin level to inflammation markers. While the trials will not include a placebo portion of the experiment, doctors state that the before and after measurements will serve as the control for each person.
Read more: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/08/young-blood-antiaging-trial-raises-questions
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