Nearly five million Americans live with chronic heart failure. New research is focusing on the body's immune system and cleansing the blood, to treat the failing heart.

It wasn't too long ago that Allen Johnson wasn't feeling so great.

"Life before was pretty much sitting on the couch," said Allen.

He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. It's a condition that weakens the heart muscle. He was told he needed a heart transplant.

Clean The Blood, Save The Heart

Doctor Guillermo Torre is unraveling the mystery behind deadly heart conditions like Allen's. He says some heart failure is linked to inflammation in the body.

"Addressing inflammation provides a whole new strategy for patients with heart failure. And by concentrating on that, you also come up with totally novel ways a treating a diseased heart," said Dr. Torre.

Plasma exchange is one new way. This machine takes blood from the patient and literally cleanses it of items that cause inflammation.

"The blood is removed. It goes through the machine, and the machine separates the cellular elements from the plasma, or the proteins, and once you separate those, then the cellular elements are re-infused back into the patient, and we remove those active proteins that can be detrimental to the heart," said Dr. Torre.

After five treatments, Allen is feeling better. But he's not out of the woods yet. He knows he may still need that transplant one day. But he doesn't let it get him down.

"I am feeling better now, and that's all that matters," said Allen.

Dr. Torre says Allen's prognosis is good. His chance of survival after four years is more than 80 percent better than it would be if he had a transplant.

Plasma exchange has been used to treat autoimmune diseases in the past, but only a few doctors are experimenting with it for the heart.