Repeated blood donation effective in treating hyperlipidemia.

ABSTRACT

Effectiveness of repeated blood donation in lowering blood lipids has been studied. Ten patients of hyperlipidaemia who donated blood 300 ml every month for 3 months and received gemfibrozil 1200 mg/day (Group B) had nearly 2 fold greater fall in serum total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels in comparison to 17 patients of group A who were treated with gemfibrozil alone in similar dose for the same period. HDL level remained almost unchanged. Thus, a non-pharmacological way of treating hyperlipidaemia has emerged from this study. Moreover donated blood will be available as by-product for use by others. This method may be especially suitable in obese persons.