Two new studies, though small, have boosted confidence in a method used to repair cardiac tissues damaged by a heart attack. Researchers have found that stem cells derived from bone marrow which is much less controversial than embryo cells helps patients who have had a heart attack and had undergone conventional bypass therapy.
Doctors in eastern Germany found that when patients who had a heart attack were injected with bone marrow stem cells into damaged areas of the heart they showed significant improvement in blood flow to the heart. This doctors say, could be because of regenerated cell growth. Out of the six patients who were injected with the cells, five showed improvement.The study's significance was further strengthened by the findings of a Hong Kong University team, who used a catheter to deliver the stem cells directly into the patient's heart. The researchers in the team claim that all the eight people who were injected with the cells showed huge improvements in cardiac function after a three month period.
