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Patients Given Own Stem Cells Escape Heart Transplant
Mon Sep 1,11:07 AM ET Add Science - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Ben Hirschler
VIENNA (Reuters) - Four out of a group of five seriously sick
Brazilian (news - web sites) heart-failure patients no longer needed a
heart transplant after being treated with their own stem cells, the
doctor in charge of the research said Monday.
Such "regenerative medicine," in which stem cells extracted from
patients' own bone marrow are used to rebuild tissue, may one day
become commonplace for patients with damaged or diseased hearts, some
doctors believe.
Hans Fernando Rocha Dohmann of the Pro-Cardiaco Hospital in Rio de
Janeiro said his four patients had such a marked improvement in blood
supply after stem cell treatment that they were removed from the list
of those needing a heart transplant.
"This finding has a significant social relevance since there isn't a
single heart transplant program anywhere in the world which is able to
treat all the patients who need it," he told reporters at the annual
meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
The whole area of stem cell research is highly controversial because
the most promising of such cells are taken from embryos, usually
obtained from fertility clinics. Embryonic stem cells are capable of
turning into nearly 200 different tissue types.
Still, doctors believe the field has huge potential.
"This is the first approach where you have an opportunity to actually
heal a heart," said Dr Michael Rosen of Columbia University, New York.
"It's going to be a very long road, but it is the most exciting thing
I've seen in my 40 years as a doctor in this field."
EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY
The four critically ill patients were among a larger group of 14 who
Dohmann and colleagues from the Texas Health Science Center in Houston
had in April reported showing improved heart function.
Their treatment involved taking cells from bone marrow and injecting
them into the heart's left ventricle, the main pumping chamber. Heart
failure is the inability of damaged heart muscle to pump enough blood
around the body.
Dohmann's patients belong to a small but growing number of patients
being tested with the experimental therapy in centers around the
world.
Doctors at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., earlier this year
treated a 16-year-old shot in the heart with a nail gun and
researchers said some 10-15 similar clinical trials could be under way
around the world.
The exact mechanism of action is not understood but medics believe
stem cells harvested from bone marrow or blood may be able to form new
muscle and blood vessels. Alternatively, they may trigger a chemical
reaction that improves the functioning of cells in the locality of the
injection.
So far, all the clinical work involves so-called "autologous" cell
transplants, in which cells are used from the patient's own body.
Using foreign stem cells is another matter and is unlikely to happen
for another 10 years, said Professor Juergen Hescheler of the
University of Cologne.
Rosen and his team are working on a technique to use cell therapy to
deliver genes to the heart that would improve its electrical pulse,
effectively creating a biological pacemaker to replace today's
mechanical ones.
Who loves ya.
Tom
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Mon Sep 1,11:07 AM ET Add Science - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Ben Hirschler
VIENNA (Reuters) - Four out of a group of five seriously sick
Brazilian (news - web sites) heart-failure patients no longer needed a
heart transplant after being treated with their own stem cells, the
doctor in charge of the research said Monday.
Such "regenerative medicine," in which stem cells extracted from
patients' own bone marrow are used to rebuild tissue, may one day
become commonplace for patients with damaged or diseased hearts, some
doctors believe.
Hans Fernando Rocha Dohmann of the Pro-Cardiaco Hospital in Rio de
Janeiro said his four patients had such a marked improvement in blood
supply after stem cell treatment that they were removed from the list
of those needing a heart transplant.
"This finding has a significant social relevance since there isn't a
single heart transplant program anywhere in the world which is able to
treat all the patients who need it," he told reporters at the annual
meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.
The whole area of stem cell research is highly controversial because
the most promising of such cells are taken from embryos, usually
obtained from fertility clinics. Embryonic stem cells are capable of
turning into nearly 200 different tissue types.
Still, doctors believe the field has huge potential.
"This is the first approach where you have an opportunity to actually
heal a heart," said Dr Michael Rosen of Columbia University, New York.
"It's going to be a very long road, but it is the most exciting thing
I've seen in my 40 years as a doctor in this field."
EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY
The four critically ill patients were among a larger group of 14 who
Dohmann and colleagues from the Texas Health Science Center in Houston
had in April reported showing improved heart function.
Their treatment involved taking cells from bone marrow and injecting
them into the heart's left ventricle, the main pumping chamber. Heart
failure is the inability of damaged heart muscle to pump enough blood
around the body.
Dohmann's patients belong to a small but growing number of patients
being tested with the experimental therapy in centers around the
world.
Doctors at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., earlier this year
treated a 16-year-old shot in the heart with a nail gun and
researchers said some 10-15 similar clinical trials could be under way
around the world.
The exact mechanism of action is not understood but medics believe
stem cells harvested from bone marrow or blood may be able to form new
muscle and blood vessels. Alternatively, they may trigger a chemical
reaction that improves the functioning of cells in the locality of the
injection.
So far, all the clinical work involves so-called "autologous" cell
transplants, in which cells are used from the patient's own body.
Using foreign stem cells is another matter and is unlikely to happen
for another 10 years, said Professor Juergen Hescheler of the
University of Cologne.
Rosen and his team are working on a technique to use cell therapy to
deliver genes to the heart that would improve its electrical pulse,
effectively creating a biological pacemaker to replace today's
mechanical ones.
Who loves ya.
Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore! http://pages.ivillage.com/ironjustice/manisaherbivore
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING http://pages.ivillage.com/ironjustice/deadpeoplewalking