TORONTO — A team of American and Argentinian researchers has proved that adult stem cells can significantly improve damaged heart tissue. In findings presented April 25, to the American Association for Thoracic Surgery in Toronto it was shown that the patients' own stem cells injected into the damaged areas dramatically improved heart function after surgery.
Twenty patients with weak hearts participated in the experiment. Ten patients had their own stem cells injected into the damaged areas of their heart during surgery and ten had surgery alone. The results were conclusive. The stem cell patients, after six months, had significantly more improvement in their hearts than those who had surgery alone.
Researcher Professor Robert Kormos said the findings “will revolutionize our approach, which is largely palliative, to one that is truly regenerative.” More research is needed, but the results are the most hopeful so far. Said Dr. Amit Patel of Division of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, “What we do know is that stem cell transplantation led to significant improvement in cardiac function in these patients undergoing off-pump bypass surgery. But further investigation is needed to replicate these results.”
This breakthrough follows a long history of successful experimental and therapeutic treatments with adult stem cells, or cells taken from the patient's own body. Though many in the research community continue to insist on the necessity of embryonic stem cells, no evidence has yet to be brought forward that such cures are likely with embryos.
See also:
Injections of Adult Stem Cells Could Repair Hearts
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
