The startup that capitalizes our fear of an invisible enemy

The places where we can find microplastics grow as time passes. We have already detected them in Testicles, lettuce, at seathe breast milk either even in the air. Taking advantage of this growing concern for this pollutant, there is a London company that is selling an ‘innovative’ therapy: clean the blood of microplastics in exchange for a payment of 11,500 euros the session.

It is not yet known if microplastics are in the blood. Today, microplastics have been found in many parts of our body, but the fact that they are circulating in the blood is something that today is not serious for our health. Although companies have seen the opportunity to create a great business around health and this pollutant.

A luxury treatment in the heart of London. In the prestigious Harley Street, known for its private clinics and its wealthy clientele, between 10 and 15 people a week they sit on a comfortable armchair to undergo the treatment of the company Clarify Clinics. The procedure, which lasts about two hours, resembles a dialysis session. Although previously we have to pay 9,750 pounds, which would be around 11,500 euros. Something that the big stars pay such as Orlando Bloom.

A cannula extract the patient’s blood and introduces it into a machine that separates the plasma from red blood cells. This plasma passes through a filter designed to catch microplastics and other pollutants such as perfluoroalized and polyfluoralized substances. Once the blood is ‘clean’, the plasma is recombine with blood cells and reintroduced into the body.

So comfortable that you can work during therapy. In his attempt to attract more and more patients, CEO of Clarify Clinic points out that it is a “very comfortable” technique According to Wired. So comfortable is that he acknowledges that patients make calls, gather by zoom or even watch a movie while their blood is cleaned.

Indicated for patients with nonspecific symptoms. According to the company itself, customers who go to their clinic share chronic fatigue or ‘mental fog’. Although the clinic also promotes its treatments for people who take medications to lose weight such as Ozempic, couples seeking to conceive or those concerned about dementia. The result is always the same: they come out as new.

Science is not clear. The scientific community has shown that microplastics are literally surrounding us. But there is no evidence of its effects on the body. WHO itselfin a report published in 2019, he concluded that there is still not enough evidence to determine if they suppose a risk to human health. We do not know if they are safe, but we also do not know the risks they could raise to create specific therapies to ‘detoxify ourselves’.

If we go to the website of this clinicthe truth is that available from a section called ‘Science’. But upon entering it offers many data, but few references (if not any) of research that speak of the effects on the health of microplastics. They are limited to what we know: their presence in numerous places. But, on the other hand, they point out that they eliminate all the effects of this pollutant.

More research is still needed. Although some studies have found worrying correlations, causality remains very elusive. A 2022 review associated microplastics with damage to human cells in the laboratory, but did not examine health results in living people. More recently, In a study Published in the prestigious magazine New England He found that people with microplastics in the fatty plaque of their carotid arteries had a higher risk of heart attack and cardiovascular accident.

However, the study was observational and could not prove that microplastics will cause That greatest risk. There could be other factors: patients with microplastics in their arteries were also more likely to be men, smokers and to have pre -existing cardiovascular diseases.

A anecdotal -based therapy. Although the evidence is very small, the CEO of Clarify Clinics sells its therapy as a miraculous thanks to the effects it has on its patients. It points to the fact that higher levels of energy or better sleep are reported, and even herself monitors her dream with The oura ring And he assures that after the treatment, his sleep score has not dropped from 90, when before 70 was a good result for her.

Biohacking for rich: a booming trend. Microplastic blood cleaning joins a growing list of high -coastal treatments and with doubtful scientific evidence. From the injections of stem cells in Bahamasuntil Receive a child’s plasma injection To stay young.

And in many cases these treatments have a common goal: to stay young. And for this there are many people who They can invest millions of dollars in therapies. Our obsession with this objective makes even investigations are pointing to medications that reverse human agingalthough without thinking about the consequences you have.

Images | Flyd Ozkan Guner

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