Stem cells will help with heart failure

Bone Marrow Cells can Help with Heart failureSolway Pharma

German researchers have found that in patients with chronic heart failure, after the introduction of their own bone marrow stem cells, heart function improves and life expectancy increases.

This is one of the largest studies to date evaluating the use of stem cells for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

The effect appeared after 3 months of treatment and persisted for 5 years. According to the head of the study, Bodo-Eckehard Strauer from Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf, it is too early to draw conclusions, but the long-term results inspire hope.

Previous studies have shown that stem cell treatment can help patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction. According to the present study, stem cells may also play a role in the treatment of heart failure.

Bone marrow cells in the study were taken from the upper part of the pelvic bones of the participants. In the laboratory, the obtained material was sorted and then reintroduced to patients. At the same time, the pumping function of the heart improved in the latter.

391 patients participated in the study; 191 of them agreed to experimental treatment, and 200 who refused were included in the control group. During 5 years of follow–up, 7 patients died in the treatment group, while 32 in the control group. The difference is impressive.

"According to the study, the introduction of their own stem cells to patients with heart failure as an alternative to conventional treatment or in addition to it improves the performance of the ventricles of the heart, as well as increases the quality and life expectancy," Strauer notes.

Heart failure occurs when the myocardium loses the ability to contract with the right strength and intensity, and the heart can no longer pump blood efficiently. This often happens after a myocardial infarction.

Traditional treatment does not eliminate the causes of this condition, which usually consists in replacing the myocardial tissue with connective tissue, so the prognosis for patients remains unfavorable.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru 03.09.2010