Matters of the heart get a flip with new study

Matters of the heart get a flip with new study

The heart is on its way to reinvent itself, if findings of the latest research are anything to go by. One such finding concluded that hearts of heart attack patients pumped better and stronger after they received stem cells transported from their very own bone marrow.

The positive difference was seen as double in such patients as compared to effects in patients who received a placebo.

The study's central purpose was to monitor and analyze the functioning of the heart's left ventricle, which is also the pumping machine of the heart. The left ventricle's condition post attack can fairly predict how a heart patient is likely to fare in the future.

The transfusion of cells from bone marrow is called progenitor cell therapy. These progenitor cells are young, incipient cells that have the capacity to develop into special cells. The study is being led by Volker Schachinger of Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

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The study carried on 204 patients showed that although all patients displayed similar pumping strength and general improvement after four months post infusion, the positives were more marked and high in patients who had had very severe attacks and suffered maximum harm to heart muscle.

The patients who had been given bone marrow transfusion displayed an average improvement of 5.5 % in heart efficiency, which is measured by what is called left ventricular ejection. The placebo recipients, in comparison, could boast of only 3 % betterment on the same criterion.

The other positive add-ons in the transfused patients were less heart enlargement and better flow of blood in the victim artery, possibly due to creation of new blood cells and vessels to repair the impaired heart region. Lessened heart enlargement means lesser chances of repeat attacks and subsequent death caused by failure.

Normally, heart enlargement is indicative of a weakening heart because the heart is trying to overcome the lack of strong pumping.

So far, heart attack victims have received treatment intended to prevent more damage to their hearts." "In contrast, progenitor cell therapy additionally revives functioning of the heart, bringing it closer to the pre-attack status.

The current scientific thought was centered on the tenet that a human has a limited number of cells in the heart. But the new break through is indicative that damaged heart muscle can be reconstructed by new cells through the cell transfusion.

The treatment of heart disorders and impairments seems to be poised for a giant stride with this new development in the medical world, promising to lead the way in reviving collapsed hearts after attacks.