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Adult Stem Cells An Effective Treatment for Heart Attacks

FREIBERG, Germany, July 9, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Researchers in Germany have found that adult stem cells are an effective treatment for patients who have had heart attacks. Researchers at the University of Freiberg treated sixty patients either with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow, or with the best conventional treatment. After six months the hearts of those who received the stem cell treatments were working far better.

The stem cells used were taken from each patient's own bone marrow and injected into their heart muscle. The researchers believe that the adult stem cells turned into blood vessel or heart muscles. Because the cells came from the patient's own body, the transplant was not rejected. The researchers also believe the bone marrow stem cells promoted the secretion of chemicals by heart tissue that encouraged growth.

Ian Rosenburg, a heart attack patient who had the pioneering treatment in Germany, explained of his own recovery, "It was a miracle… I couldn't get around and go out…Now I can run up and down all the time." Patients who received the new treatment had a 7% improvement in the functioning of their left ventricle. Those treated conventionally had only a 0.7% improvement.

See BBC coverage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3877877.stm

pj

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