A therapeutic venesection is a procedure where a volume of blood (usually 450mls) is removed as a treatment for certain conditions of the blood. It has been done for ceturies and it is also know as bloodletting. We offer bulk billed venesection procedures for our patients at Revita Medica Clinic.
Benefits : Venesection is an effective way to reduce the blood iron levels, concentration of red blood cells or the thickness of the blood to a safe level.
Human body contains approximately five to six litres of blood therefore, removing one bag (450ml) of blood does not lead to any long term harm.
Therapeutic venesection is commonly used to treat the following conditions:
Haemochromatosis: This is a genetic condition where your body absorbs and stores too much iron. Excess iron is stored in various organs around your body such as your heart, joints, kidneys and liver. This can lead to disease or damage to the organs. The easy but effective way to remove iron is to take blood from you at regular intervals.
Polycythaemia vera, erythrocytosis and high haemoglobins: With these conditions, your body has an increased number of red blood cells which makes your blood thicker. If this is not treated, blood can clot and this can lead to complications and death.
How does a venesection work?
Haemochromatosis Removing blood reduces the amount of iron in your blood. To replace the removed red blood cells your body uses the excess iron which has been stored in organs in your body.
Polycythaemia vera, erythrocytosis and high haemoglobin Removing blood will reduce the number of red blood cells in your body. This reduces the thickness of your blood – reducing the risks associated with thick blood, such as
Therapeutic venesection is a safe and effective atment of selected conditions, namely, hereditary haemochromatosis (removal of excess body iron), polycythaemia/erythrocytosis (reduction of red cell mass) etc. Venesection is generally well tolerated and helps improve these conditions. If you have further questions please ask one of our doctros at revita medical clinic regarding venesection.