|
HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
How Could Heart Damage Be Reversed? When a person has a heart attack, some of his or her heart cells will die because of interruption of blood supply to certain part of the heart. If medical attention were not performed immediately, this person might die. That is why heart attack is the leading cause for death for men and women worldwide. Even if the victim is fortunate to survive the heart attack, the damage to the heart muscle can never be repaired. Complications that the victim can have include blood clots, heart failure, heart rupture, heart valve damage, irregular heartbeats and inflammation of the heart. In July 2009, doctors from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles carried out a never-tried procedure that enabled a 39-year-old patient to receive an infusion of stem cells, grown from cells taken from his own heart a few weeks earlier. This man had a massive heart attack that destroyed nearly a third of his heart. About 3 weeks later, doctors from the University of Louisville's Jewish Hospital also performed a similar procedure on a patient who suffered from advanced heart failure, resulting from a heart attack years earlier. Likewise, he also received an infusion of stem cells, grown from his own heart tissue.
On November 14, 2011, doctors from both hospitals reported that heart damage might be reversed with stem cell therapy without dangerous side effects, at least in a small group of patients. This is definitely good news for heart disease patients. At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 17 patients were given stem cells approximately 6 weeks after suffering a moderate to major heart attack. All of these patients had lost enough tissue to put them at high risk of future heart failure. The scar tissue retreated between 30 and 47 percent in all patients, who actually generated new heart tissue. On average, the stem cell recipients grew the equivalent of 600 million new heart cells. In general, a major heart attack might destroy a billion heart cells. According to the researchers, traditional procedures like placing a stent to widen the patient’s artery do not make very much difference. One of the patients could not even walk to the restroom without stopping for breath. But after the procedure, he can now drive a tractor on his farm and even play basketball with his grandchildren. At the University of Louisville's Jewish Hospital, 16 patients with severe heart failure received a purified batch of cardiac stem cells. Within a year, their heart function improved significantly. When the study began, the patients had an average LVEF of 30.3 percent. 4 months after receiving stem cells, it was 38.5 percent. Among 7 patients who were followed for a full year, it improved to 42.5 percent. A control group of 7 patients, given only standard maintenance medications, showed no improvement at all. LVEF (Left Ventricle Ejection Fraction) is used to quantify the heart's pumping ability. It is a measure of how much blood the heart pumps with each contraction. A patient with an LVEF of less than 40 percent is considered to suffer severe heart failure. One important thing to note is that none of the treated patient in either study suffered a significant health setback. It is believed that heart contains a kind of stem cell that can develop into either heart muscle or blood vessel components. The experimental treatments involve removing stem cells through a biopsy, and making millions of copies in a laboratory. Other scientists have also produced improvements in cardiac patients using stem cells derived from bone marrow. In a study also released on November 14, 2011, researchers used stem cells derived from bone marrow to treat patients with severe heart failure. Among the 60 patients, those who received stem cells treatment had fewer heart issues over a year, as well as better heart function. Most cardiac experts have found the results very encouraging because conventional literature has indicated the damage in the heart is irreversible. They were happy that heart attack patients could benefit using heart’s own regenerative processes, but they would also like to see more studies that will determine which type of cells are most beneficial.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright
2007-2012 © HowToPreventHeartDisease.com . All Rights Reserved.d........ |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
