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 ST. LOUIS (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- High cholesterol -- thats a number of 240 or higher -- over 34 million American adults have it. For some, diet and exercise can bring it down, but for others, even medication wont help. Now, patients have another option that filters out bad cholesterol.
Ted Harrison says the more he plays pool, the luckier he gets. For the last 20 years, he's been trying to use that luck to win the fight against his body.
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"I had radical throat cancer," Harrison told Ivanhoe. "I had open heart surgery. I have had 9 stents."
Now Harrison has extremely high levels of LDL or bad cholesterol. His high cholesterol is genetic. Changing his diet, exercising and medication didnt help, so he is one of the first to have his bad cholesterol removed from his body. Endocrinologists at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., are using HELP -- Heparin-Induced Extracorporeal Lipoprotien Precipitation -- to control Harrison's cholesterol.
 "You're filtering out the bad cholesterol," Anne Carol Goldberg, M.D., an endocrinologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., told Ivanhoe.
The blood is separated into red cells and plasma. The plasma runs through a machine that grabs on to a protein found in LDL and removes it from the blood. The cleaned plasma is put back together with the red blood cells and returned to the body.
"This is the most efficient process for lowering LDL because it happens immediately," Dr. Goldberg said.
Harrisons LDL level went from over 200 to under 100 after one treatment -- but the bad cholesterol will build back up within weeks, so he will have the procedure twice a month, indefinitely.
"Any cholesterol you can keep out of your arteries that builds plaque is good," Harrison said.
 It could be his last shot at a healthy life.
Normal LDL is under 100. To be eligible for the filter, a person must have an LDL level of at least 300, or 200 if a person has heart disease. The procedure is offered at a few dozen locations across the country.
For additional research on this article, click here.
To read Ivanhoe's full-length interview with Dr. Goldberg, click here.
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If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Melissa Medalie at mmedalie@ivanhoe.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Judy Martin
Media Relations
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, MO
(314) 286-0105
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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