This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

[Lars]

Hey Dig,
I found some links you wrote a while back (07 I think) on Plasmapheresis and wondered what the current news is. I have a friend with Guillain Barre Syndrome (and you think MS is rare!) and they are recommending this therapy. There are huge similarities between MS and GBS so if it works for one............? Since Plasma exchange doesn't affect cells, what is the therapeutic mechanism?
Thanks,
Lars

[dignan]

Lars, I haven't seen anything new on plasmapheresis lately. I defer to wikipedia to explain the process: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmapheresis

There have been a lot of studies of plasmapheresis and GBS. It looks like the first use was in the late 70s or early 80s.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18331814

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1552913

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1642477

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7598643

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8559353