ScienceNOW on Stem Cell Heart Therapies

ScienceNOW takes a conservative look at issues in the development of regenerative medicine for heart damage. It is good to take stock of the challenges in any field alongside the breakthroughs: "It's been more than 6 years since the first person was injected with stem cells to rescue a failing heart. Hundreds of patients have since followed the lead of that 46-year-old German man. But experts are still divided on how well the strategy works. ... Clinical trials and animal studies are supplying a wealth of information; so far, the treatment seems safe. But it is not at all clear which stem cells should be given, or by what method - or, most importantly, whether patients who get them are likelier to survive.
Cardiologists seized on cell therapy as a way to prevent decay of heart muscle immediately after a heart attack and restore muscle long after it had died. But three of the four largest clinical trials have failed to accomplish what they set out to do - improve a particular measure of heart function, measured as an increase the amount of blood pumped, the so-called ejection fraction. By other measures of health, however, such as regeneration of heart muscle or preventing heart attacks, the trials may have been a success, argued some of those who conducted them. ... It's sad, but it's life. should we be discouraged? Certainly not."

Link: http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1002/3

Comment Submission

Post a comment; thoughtful, considered opinions are valued. New comments can be edited for a few minutes following submission. Comments incorporating ad hominem attacks, advertising, and other forms of inappropriate behavior are likely to be deleted.

Note that there is a comment feed for those who like to keep up with conversations.