I am now of the age when hearing thst a friend or acquaintance succumbed to a heart attack is not that geeat a shock. That loss of oxygen flow to the heart- from a blood clot, an occlusion, or other trauma- is not always fatal, thank G0d. But, when the heart heals, there is scar tissue- and the heart is ‘never as good as new’. But, that may be about to change. Two different groups are trying similar techniques. A third is using a slight different concept.
Dr. Eduardo Marban of the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles led this research effort (reported in the Lancet) which is trying to use stem cells to regenerate muscle tissue, so the heart can beat as good as new. (Some of this work was also done at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.)
Whose stem cells? The patient’s! Within the first 30 days after a heart attack, a tube is snaked down the neck vein to the heart, where a small sample of the heart is taken to develop these (CArdiosphere-Derived aUtologous CElls to Reverse ventricUlar dySfunction [CADUCEUS]) stem cells. They are cultured to a sufficient population (about 10KK), which are then re-supplied to the arteries surrounding the heart, from where they attach to the heart.
Within six months, the amount of scar tissue (damaged heart tissue) was reduced from (the average of these 25 subjects) 24% to 16%– and 12% after a year.. Yes, these stem cells have produced healthy heart tissue.
The other group, under the direction of Dr. Roberto Bolli, of the University of Louisville, tested 14 patients. They cultured about 1/10 as many cells (2 million versus 25 million) as the CADUCEUS study group. (They term their system SCIPIO, from cardiac Stem Cells In Patients with Ischaemic cardiomyOpathy.) The SCIPIO study determined that the ejection fraction for the 14 patients who were injected; their ability to pump blood increased from 30.3 to 38.5% after four months (whereas the 7 patients who did not receive the stem cells has no such increase)l on the other hand, there was no difference between the ejection fractions between the control and the CADUCEUS patients after six months.
A third group, under Dr. Anthony Mathur of the London School of Medicine is trying to grow the cells from bone marrow.
But, these were all just safety tests. A test to see if the process would do no harm to the patients. (That’s why the size was so small.). Now, these two concepts go on to Phase II testing, where the ‘rubber meets the road’. Stay tuned…
This is WONDERFUL! Mom and I lost Daddy to heart disease, so this kind of break through is just music to our ears. It is simply amazing what they are doing. I can hardly wait to hear the results of the phase 2 clinical! I am surprised that Cleveland Clinic isn’t in on this research, they are one of the top heart hospitals in the nation…(side note) lol
I am sure that the Cleveland Clinic has its own approach…and may not rely on stem cells.
I, too, am hopeful that one of these projects will prove its mettle.
Thanks for the visit, Lisa.
I had heard about this and am constantly amazed at the innovation, especially in the treatment of the heart. Now, if we all could afford the care. 🙂
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That’s a key point I failed to consider when I wrote this, Cathy.
I am sure that collecting and culturing these stem cells is not going to be “dime store” variety… (Even if we do lots of them, since this is customized.)
Shucks…
Roy
Hi Roy… It never ceases to amaze me the power of the human mind! Do we not live in wonderful times? I am always amazed at Stem Cell Research. I really wished however I had saved my kids umbilical cords. Course, the technology was very new when they were born and the hospitals did not promote it.
It amazes me however they can take your stem cells anyway… according to your post.
This is very interesting Roy. Thanks for sharing I do believe that one day we will have most things cured!
Jayne
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Jayne-
I am sanguine that one of these projects will prove successful. Hopefully, there will not be a political fight over the results.
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
Roy
We may not be around when these procedures are perfected, but hopefully it will be in our children’s times. I am all for this kind of research. Thanks for sharing, Roy.
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Oh, Ann, I think we’ll be around. I’m just not sure the price for this procedures will have dropped enough for it to be mainstream by then.
Roy
Hey Roy I am scared after reading your post but it’s helpful for increasing my knowledge.
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Greetings! Very useful advice within this article! It’s the little changes that make the most significant changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
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I am so glad you found this post and liked it, Judy! I hope you come back often.
Roy
I usually do not write a comment, however after reading a few of the comments here Heart Derived Stem Cells Provide Hope.
I actually do have some questions for you if it’s allright. Is it simply me or do a few of the responses appear as if they are coming from brain dead people? 😛 And, if you are writing on other places, I would like to keep up with everything new you have to post. Could you list of every one of your public pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
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Jolie:
Most of my posts are found on this site. I do occasionally post at ezinearticles.com and a few other places (since those are political in nature, I won’t list them here.) My twitter handles are found on the right hand size of the page (I believe on every page 🙂 ). My LinkedIn profile uses my name, so it’s easy to find.
Thanks for your inquiry.
Roy