FDA Warns Against Using Young Blood As Medical Treatment

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday against using plasma infusions from young blood donors to ward off the effects of normal aging as well as other more serious conditions. Plasma, the liquid portion of the blood, contains proteins that help clot blood. The infusions are promoted to treat a variety of conditions, including normal aging and memory loss as well as serious conditions such as dementia, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.

'There is no proven clinical benefit of infusion of plasma from young donors to cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent these conditions, and there are risks associated with the use of any plasma product,' FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb wrote in a statement Tuesday. 'The reported uses of these products should not be assumed to be safe or effective,' he added, noting that the FDA 'strongly' discourages consumers from using this therapy 'outside of clinical trials under appropriate institutional review board and regulatory oversight.' Gottlieb said that 'a growing number of clinics' are offering plasma from young donors and similar therapies, though he did not name any in particular.

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