Cleansing the Blood?

[alagirl]

I haven't seen anything on this, probably because its been posted before I found you guys and I just can't find it, but has anyone heard about this method of tx for hep c?  I actually used significant bleeding to remove a large overdose of iron (given IV over a series of weeks by a hematologist who though I had iron deficiency anemia).  It worked great.  Of course, iron isn't a virus that will keep replicating.  

But could this work for chronic hep c patients?  And if so, why hasn't anyone thought of it before, liver dialysis instead of dialysis for renal disease.  I'm asking to be educated here.  Does it follow that if you keep a lower virus level, even if you are a nonresponder, that your liver is damaged less?  Because if that's true, then it seems like some type of dialysis would work unless there's something (probably) about it that I don't understand.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6713252.html

http://www.hepatitis-central.com/hcv/liver/hemotherapies.html

[alagirl]

will do. thanks for the site!

The interesting thing.  And I KNOW I am being persistent about this but the concept is so cool.  The interesting thing about this Japanese machine is that it tags hep c cells.  Purportedly.  And then chelates them out with possibly a temperature based module, and the machine is used in conjunction with interferon.  So it purports to be able to actually cure hep c, and if it did work, it would so much shorten the tx time.

But, definitely I was thinking already that if I am not able to clear for some reason, I might look into some of the dialysis options available elsewhere just to keep my liver going longer.

[Xhrles]

Try www.arbios.com or look up vital therapies which has a machine in testing in China. They are a San Diego company and I read about them in Business week. Keep them on file for a worst case scenario which I hope to avoid. The machines take the load off the liver so it can recuperate but don't do anything for the virus but there should be effective drugs within a couple of years. Sure hope so

[alagirl]

I do! I was happy to see your post!  I was just saying that the first 2000 group were using the dialysis on liver patients with damage, and it looked like possibly hepc patients too possibly.  but it was hopeful to me that upon me going back and looking at the Japanese patent ap, its apparently primarily to treat hepc.  

that may mean, and I don't know, which is why I'm really asking for any info, that the Japanese followed and refined some of the work done at the Universities I mentioned above and as you said, possibly in other countries, over the intervening years.  I personally think this is really exciting science.  IF the Japanese method or something close to it worked it would mean a radically shortened treatment with far less toxic side effects.

But even if it couldn't promise a cure, it would seem (to me) that it might still offer ways to give the liver a break from toxins so it could stay healthier for longer for chronic patients.  

[Forseegood]

just trying to help, you said you wanted to know anything anybody knew about these things, sorry. Interesting though.

[alagirl]

this patent for the Japanese machine appears to be very specifically for hepc treatment.

[alagirl]

on the patent that was filed in 2004 for this machinery, based, I feel possibly on some of this earlier work - but who knows - they do claim it helpful for hcv.

The dialysis unit used in the above article is kind of interesting.  It filters through microscopically fine charcoal to chelate but has some screen that keeps the charcoal from ever making actual contact with the blood.

The patent, filed by a Japanese appears to be a treatment comprised of several days of heat and chelation dialysis, as well as interferon.  The company says the following:

"What is claimed is:

1. A method for removing and reducing HCV from the blood of an HCV-infected patient, which comprises carrying out, once a day for at least 5 straight days, a treatment of bringing the blood into contact with an adsorptive carrier having a higher affinity for infected, activated and/or defective leukocytes than for uninfected leukocytes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adsorptive carrier additionally has an affinity for HCV.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the blood is separated into plasma and other components and the plasma is brought into contact with the adsorptive carrier.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plasma after treatment is returned to the body from which it is taken out.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the adsorptive carrier has complement activating action.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the adsorptive carrier has a contact angle to water within a range of from 55 to 95.degree..

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment of bringing the blood into contact with the adsorptive carrier is conducted once a day for 5 to 15 straight days.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the blood is treated in an amount of 300 to 3000 mL/once.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein one treatment of bringing the blood into contact with the adsorptive carrier is conducted for 10 minutes to 10 hours at a rate of 5 to 200 mL/min.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the blood after treatment is returned to the body from which it is taken out.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment of bringing the blood into contact with the adsorptive carrier is continued until the blood HCV level, as measured by the RT-PCR method, becomes below 100 KIU/mL.

12. A method of treating HCV infection, which comprises carrying out, once a day for at least 5 straight days, a treatment of bringing the blood of an HCV-infected patient into contact with an adsorptive carrier having a higher affinity for infected, activated and/or defective leukocytes than for uninfected leukocytes and then administering interferon to the patient. "


Now.  I am having difficulty dismissing this out of hand.  It looks very interesting to me.