Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the USA- for men and for women. 1 in 4 of us will succumb to this problem. Coronary heart disease (CHD) accounts for half of these ailments.
A heart attack means the heart gets starved of its vital nutrients (which includes oxygen). That lack of sustenance forces the affected heart muscle to die off; as such the heart is now weaker (and that leads to complete heart failure.) Until now, we had no means to revive the muscle. (Actually, we still can’t- but…)
No, the heart muscle is not revived. Instead, a reasonable size piece of heart tissue (3 cm by 2 cm; thickness of 1.5 mm) containing 5 X 107 (50 million) stem cells- preprogrammed to become viable cardiac tissue. (The cells were human induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM).) These patches are implanted on the cardiac wall after a heart attack, supporting the damaged muscle and enabling it to resume pumping. (The patches also exude chemicals that augment the action of the stem cells.)
The project researchers were Drs. Richard Jabbour (primary researcher), Thomas Owen, Pragati Pandey, Cesare Terracciano, and Sian Harding (all from the Imperial College of London), along with Drs. Marina Reinsch, Florian Weinberger, Thomas Eschenhagen of Hamburg University. And, they presented their results at the Annual Conference of the British Cardiovascular Society in Manchester. (The paper title was: Development and preclinical testing of a large heart muscle patch, paper BS27.)
Heart attacks in the rabbits (animal model chosen) were simulated by ligating vessels. Patches were applies to 5 normal and 8 affected hearts. The patches were found to be beating within 3 days of attachment- and fully mimicked heart tissue within a month. (Blood vessels also grew into the patch, thereby providing nutrients and oxygen to the cells.) While these studies were done with animal models, the team expects to begin human testing by 2021.
Once proven useful in the clinical trials, the goal is to have the patches ready for immediate use. Then, when a compromised patient reaches the hospital, the stem cell patch can be attached quickly, allowing the heart to get its nutrients and be repaired. Getting the patient home quickly and ‘restored’.
Stem cell treatment is amazing. I had stem cell treatment instead of a knee replacement. My knee was bone on bone and the cartilage grew back rather quickly. I still have arthritis in that knee but I can walk without my knee buckling. I had several falls from that and now I’m steady as I walk.
Stem cell treatment will eventually do away with the need for transplants and other treatments.
Now, if onoy our government would stop banning their development!
Wow that’s amazing! Between this and healthy eating, heart disease may decrease.
I vote for prevention (healthy eating), Martha- every time.
As usual, I applaud people with the skills to figure these treatments out. This is almost beyond imagination, given the number of people I know (and I don’t know that many people!) with heart disease or some kind of coronary issues.
Yes, this could be very cool, Alana!
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Thank you very much.