Heart attacks most often result from obstructions on the vessels feeding the heart, the coronary arteries, and results in damage to the tissue of the heart. "Hardening" of the vessels (or atherosclerosis) is the main reason that the vessels become blocked. Risk factors are elevated cholesterol, obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Therapy with stem cells (e.g. for diseases like heart attack and stroke) derived from embyos is controversial. The use of the patient's own stem cells, derived from his own bone marrow, could circumvene this problem. These cells are already used to regenerate bone marrow in patients who are given chemotherapy for leukemia and lymphoma, two types of cancer. The UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF) has made its first grant to support a unique project that promises hope for thousands of heart attack patients. The new procedure involves injecting the patient ’ s heart with his own bone marrow stem cells in the expectation that they will help repair the damaged heart and prolong the patient ’ s active life. Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director, British Heart Foundation welcomed research into the role stem cells may play in treating heart conditions and saw it as complementing the Foundation ’ s own research programme. Nigel Hawkes in the Times today argues that it may be unwise to proceed when so little is understood about stem cells. Maybe it would be better to hold back until the science is better developed. He describes the procedure as coming from the "quick and dirty" school of medical research which has produced great benefits before the science has caught up. On the other hand he quotes Roger Pedersen, of the University of Cambridge as saying that we know little about what triggers cells to differentiate, and that “simple alchemy” will not work: “We’ re going to have to do some science. ” The feasibility and safety of the procedure has been tested in smaller studies, and the few reports available show a trend towards positive effects, but large clinical trials are still missing.
Heart attacks most often result from obstructions on the vessels feeding the heart, the coronary arteries, and results in damage to the tissue of the heart. "Hardening" of the vessels (or atherosclerosis) is the main reason that the vessels become blocked. Risk factors are elevated cholesterol, obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Therapy with stem cells (e.g. for diseases like heart attack and stroke) derived from embyos is controversial. The use of the patient's own stem cells, derived from his own bone marrow, could circumvene this problem. These cells are already used to regenerate bone marrow in patients who are given chemotherapy for leukemia and lymphoma, two types of cancer. The UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF) has made its first grant to support a unique project that promises hope for thousands of heart attack patients. The new procedure involves injecting the patient ' s heart with his own bone marrow stem cells in the expectation that they will help repair the damaged heart and prolong the patient ' s active life. Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director, British Heart Foundation welcomed research into the role stem cells may play in treating heart conditions and saw it as complementing the Foundation ' s own research programme. Nigel Hawkes in the Times today argues that it may be unwise to proceed when so little is understood about stem cells. Maybe it would be better to hold back until the science is better developed. He describes the procedure as coming from the "quick and dirty" school of medical research which has produced great benefits before the science has caught up. On the other hand he quotes Roger Pedersen, of the University of Cambridge as saying that we know little about what triggers cells to differentiate, and that "simple alchemy" will not work: "We' re going to have to do some science. " The feasibility and safety of the procedure has been tested in smaller studies, and the few reports available show a trend towards positive effects, but large clinical trials are still missing.
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