IU Offers New Treatment Option For Cholesterol Patients
INDIANAPOLIS - A new procedure at the Indiana University School of Medicine
may prolong the lives of individuals whose cholesterol can’t be controlled
with medication.
The procedure, which has been used in Europe for nearly 20 years, works
on the principle that medication is not the only way to control LDL or
“bad” cholesterol. Using LDL apheresis treatments, doctors are
able to remove the artery-clogging cholesterol while leaving the HDL or
“good” cholesterol in the blood stream.
Apheresis is similar to hemodialysis, which is used to treat patients
with kidney failure. One difference is that LDL apheresis only filters
out the LDL cholesterol from the blood. Like hemodialysis, apheresis removes
blood from a vein through a needle, most commonly from the arm, and returns
the filter blood in the other arm. The LDL apheresis treatment routinely
takes about two or three hours and patients undergo the treatment twice
a month.
Mark Deeg, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine and of biochemistry
and molecular biology, is director of the IU Vascular Health Program.
IU Medical Center is the only site for the apheresis treatment in Indiana
although there are about 20 other medical centers in the United States
where the treatment option is offered.
“The people who qualify for this treatment frequently have LDL levels
well beyond the level believed to be safe,” said Dr. Deeg. “For
individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia, an inherited trait, there
are few treatment options that are truly effective. These individuals
do not respond well to cholesterol-lowering drugs, and diet and exercise
also are ineffective ways to control their condition.”
Hypercholesterolemia merely means an excess of cholesterol in the blood.
For individuals with the inherited form, it can mean a lifetime of dietary
restricts and a shortened life span. For rare individuals who receive
two sets of genes for the disorder - one from each parent - it can result
in strokes in children as young as elementary-school age and can severely
shorten life expectancy.
Individuals who would qualify for the LDL apheresis treatment, which
is covered by some insurance plans, would have an LDL level over 300 or,
if there is evidence of heart disease, an LDL level over 200. In the healthy
population, an LDL of less than 160, or of less than 100 if heart disease
exists, is considered normal.
Among the additional benefits to the treatment is the fact it lowers
blood viscosity or “stickiness.” High viscosity makes it more
difficult for blood to flow through narrowed arteries.
An unexpected benefit may be in the treatment of idiopathic hearing loss.
“Early evidence indicates that one treatment with apheresis is more
effective in resolving acute hearing loss than a regimen with steroids,”
said Dr. Deeg. “It is thought that by lowering blood viscosity, apheresis
has an effect on the loss of hearing by improving blood flow through the
ear.”
The IU School of Medicine also will be offering the apheresis treatment
for acute hearing loss.
For additional information on the IU LDL apheresis program, contact Ostella Honeycutt at 317-274-4347.
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Media Contact: Mary Hardin
317-274-7722
mhardin@iupui.edu
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