Young Plasma Infusion vs Therapeutic Plasma Exchange
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
Buying plasma from young donors, against an established medical procedure that removes plasma and replaces it with albumin. The FDA published a consumer warning about clinics selling the first in February 2019. The second has a 347 patient trial in Alzheimer disease that met one of its two main goals.
- Young Plasma Infusion people
- 18
- Young Plasma Infusion nulls
- 0
- Therapeutic Plasma Exchange people
- 389
- Therapeutic Plasma Exchange nulls
- 1
Dose
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses
Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose.
Plasma, the liquid part of blood, is a licensed blood product. Doctors use it for set medical reasons, such as blood clotting problems and plasma exchange. Giving it by drip for ageing, memory loss or diseases that kill brain cells is not an approved use. The FDA warned the public about clinics selling it on 19 February 2019.
Dose
Approved medicine. No human dose established for unlabelled uses
Labeled amounts sit on the prescribing information. This page records what trials measured, not a personal dose.
Therapeutic plasma exchange is an established medical procedure. A machine cleared for the job removes plasma, the liquid part of blood, and replaces it. It has accepted uses in some nerve, blood and kidney diseases. It is not approved anywhere for ageing, for lowering biological age or for Alzheimer disease.
First-hand reports are counted on each profile and never added together. This page sets two published records side by side. It does not pick a winner.
Column A
Young Plasma InfusionYoung donor plasma infusion (transfusion of plasma from young adult donors)
Plasma from donors aged 18 to 30, dripped into older people. The one proper trial took 18 people with Alzheimer disease and was built to check safety, not benefit. The FDA published a public warning about clinics selling it in February 2019.
Column B
Therapeutic Plasma ExchangeTherapeutic plasma exchange (plasmapheresis with albumin or albumin plus immunoglobulin replacement)
A standard hospital procedure that takes out plasma and puts a blood protein called albumin back. A 347-person trial in Alzheimer disease hit one of its two main goals. Two small 2025 trials of ageing markers came to opposite conclusions.
Side by side, on the facts we can check
| What we compare | Young Plasma Infusion | Therapeutic Plasma Exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Longevity | Longevity |
| FDA status | Plasma, the liquid part of blood, is a licensed blood product. Doctors use it for set medical reasons, such as blood clotting problems and plasma exchange. Giving it by drip for ageing, memory loss or diseases that kill brain cells is not an approved use. The FDA warned the public about clinics selling it on 19 February 2019. | Therapeutic plasma exchange is an established medical procedure. A machine cleared for the job removes plasma, the liquid part of blood, and replaces it. It has accepted uses in some nerve, blood and kidney diseases. It is not approved anywhere for ageing, for lowering biological age or for Alzheimer disease. |
| Half-life | Not reported | Not reported |
| Molecular weight | Not reported | Not reported |
| How it works | Not worked out in people. In mice, plasma from young animals carries factors including TIMP2, platelet factor 4, Gpld1 and clusterin. Those improve how the memory centre of the brain adapts, how new brain cells form and how the animals learn. Old plasma carries factors including CCL11 and beta-2 microglobulin, which do the opposite. No study in people has found which part of young plasma, if any, does anything. The Stanford trial did not try to. Plasma is a complex mixture with clotting factors, antibodies and hundreds of proteins. That alone makes it hard to read, even when it is given. | Two rival explanations, neither settled in people. The thinning idea, worked out in mice, says that taking out some old plasma waters down proteins that build up with age and resets the body's signals, and that what you put back barely matters. Mouse work in 2020 found that salt water plus albumin matched the effect of young blood. The replacement idea says the albumin itself is what counts. It may bind and carry away unwanted molecules, or restore the blood's carrying capacity. That is the thinking behind the AMBAR method, where albumin is the replacement fluid. The 2025 Scientific Reports trial took plasma out without putting albumin back, and the ageing clocks moved the wrong way. That is evidence against thinning being enough on its own, though one small trial does not settle it. |
| Studies in people | 3 | 7 |
| Evidence | Limited: 1 completed trial, 18 people given it | Moderate: 5 completed trials, 389 people given it |
| Legal status, US | Licensed blood product; giving it by drip for ageing is an unapproved use | Approved medical procedure; not approved for ageing uses |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Young Plasma Infusion and Therapeutic Plasma Exchange?
Young Plasma Infusion: Plasma from donors aged 18 to 30, dripped into older people. The one proper trial took 18 people with Alzheimer disease and was built to check safety, not benefit. The FDA published a public warning about clinics selling it in February 2019. Therapeutic Plasma Exchange: A standard hospital procedure that takes out plasma and puts a blood protein called albumin back. A 347-person trial in Alzheimer disease hit one of its two main goals. Two small 2025 trials of ageing markers came to opposite conclusions.
Which has stronger research evidence, Young Plasma Infusion or Therapeutic Plasma Exchange?
Each compound gets a band worked out from facts we counted, with the math shown. Young Plasma Infusion is Limited (1 completed trial, 18 people given it). Therapeutic Plasma Exchange is Moderate (5 completed trials, 389 people given it). That counts how much has been done in people. It does not rate whether either one works, and neither one is called the winner.
Are Young Plasma Infusion and Therapeutic Plasma Exchange FDA-approved?
Young Plasma Infusion: Plasma, the liquid part of blood, is a licensed blood product. Doctors use it for set medical reasons, such as blood clotting problems and plasma exchange. Giving it by drip for ageing, memory loss or diseases that kill brain cells is not an approved use. The FDA warned the public about clinics selling it on 19 February 2019.. Therapeutic Plasma Exchange: Therapeutic plasma exchange is an established medical procedure. A machine cleared for the job removes plasma, the liquid part of blood, and replaces it. It has accepted uses in some nerve, blood and kidney diseases. It is not approved anywhere for ageing, for lowering biological age or for Alzheimer disease..
Reviewed Sep 2026. This page puts two published records side by side. It is for learning, and it is not medical advice. When this site shows a dose, it is the dose a trial or a clinic actually used, or what people say they did, with the source attached. None of it tells you what to take.