Spain uses stem cell therapy to treat damaged hearts

It is the first time that allogeneic cells stem cells that come from another person have been used to repair damage to a heart caused by a heart attack

STEM CELLS UP CLOSE. This handout picture, released from Japan's Kyoto University Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) on January 23, 2013 shows part of the renal tubule cells (red part) which were differentiated from human stem cells at the CiRA in Kyoto. File photo from Kyoto University/AFP

MADRID, Spain A Spanish hospital has successfully used stem cells culled from healthy donors to treat seven heart attack victims, in what officials said was a world first.

Madrid's Gregorio Maranon hospital plans to treat 55 patients in all with the technique in a clinical trial, the regional Madrid government which runs the hospital said in a statement.

"Seven patients have already been operated on and they have progressed very well despite havingt suffered serious damage to their heart tissue," it added.

It is the first time that allogeneic cells stem cells that come from another person have been used to repair damage to a heart caused by a heart attack, the statement added.

A heart attack happens when the organ is starved of oxygen, such as when a clot blocks the flow of blood to the heart.

As the heart heals, the dead muscle is replaced with scar tissue, but because this does not beat like healthy heart muscle the ability to pump blood around the body is reduced.

While patients with mild heart failure can live a relatively normal life with the help of drugs, those with severe heart failure can suffer prolonged pain and distress because everyday tasks such as doing the shopping or taking a shower leave them exhausted.

Doctors around the world are looking at ways of "regenerating" the heart to replace the scar tissue with beating muscle.

Originally posted here:
Spain uses stem cell therapy to treat damaged hearts