Injections To Replace Heart Surgery? 56
chareverie writes "Researchers at Harvard University have been working towards a goal of replacing some types of heart surgery with injections of cells that would grow into blood vessels for damaged hearts. The cells that would be used are progenitor cells obtained from the blood or bone marrow, as opposed to stem cells that are obtained from human embryos. The research team was successful with their tests on growing heart blood vessels in mice. Joyce Bishoff, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard and senior author of the report, says, 'Our next goal down the line is to use them in humans.' She also notes that more studies need to be done on animals to see how these cells would react and behave with other types of tissues. A similar human experiment was done two years ago in Germany, during which a few people from a group of 75 heart attack victims were given injections of progenitor cells from their own bone marrow or blood. The report concluded that there were improved heart functions."
Reader w1z4rd points out related coverage with some more information at BBC News.
Adult Stem Cells (Score:3, Interesting)
Wowâ¦got to love it. Instead of saying "adult stem cells", they say "progenitor cells". Amazing. Despite not one real solution from embryonic stem cell research around the world and a continuous train or real solutions from adult stem cells, so many people want to keep pushing for embryonic research.
Why not pull for the winning team.
Needed this a few years ago (Score:3, Interesting)
And BTW, my total cholesterol was under 160 and my triglycerides were at 150, high normal, at the time of the surgery. My cardiac ejection fraction was @ 60% and I had no symptoms of any sort until a bit of arrhythmia showed up during a routine exam when I had been at 60bps for years. Genetics - the boomerang that catches you from behind.