“Latest Stem Cells News”

Eddie Floyd, a pet store owner had a heart attack a couple of years ago. When he was brought to the hospital, he was asked if he wanted to participate in a stem cell research clinical trial using Adult Stem Cells to help heal his heart muscle. Eddie said yes and he is happy he did. The stem cell therapy healed his heart muscle completely so there is now no sign of damage or any complications from his heart attack.

Stem Cell Video of Heart Attack Victim

The video describes a clinical trial at Austin Heart Hospital and while it doesn’t mention the company, it is obviously Osiris and their “off the shelf” Adult Stem Cell product  Prochymal. This stem cell video is the future of stem cell medicine. Adult Stem Cell treatment being used right away to treat a heart attack- not waiting for 2 years and a decrease in ejection fraction by 50%.

Below, see the excellent stem cell video which tells Eddie’s story. The video was created by  The Texas Alliance for Life where they are supporting the creation of an Adult Stem Cell consortium that will “put patients first” (Hallelujah!- maybe someone finally gets it) Below the video, you will find the transcription.

Heart Attack Healed by Adult Stem Cells

There are almost 1 million heart attacks per year in the United States.  Almost half are fatal.

Eddie Floyd had a heart attack a couple of years ago. He is the owner of the Bark and Pur Pet Center in Austin.

Eddie: I had a very strong pain from arm pit to arm pit so I knew what it was.  There was no doubt as to what it was.  It was extremely painful.

Dr. Roger Gammon: He developed the typical chest pain, came in, was treated in the typical way which was to open the artery and put a stent in and use all the medications we typically do.

Eddie: The doctor came in and asked if I wanted to participate in a study which uses Adult Stem Cells that came from the people’s bone marrow.

Dr. Gammon: Within 10 days of that phase of the trial, he received either the stem cells or the placebo.  We know now in his case, he got the stem cells.

Eddie: I went home from the hospital and went back to living my life.  Except for going in frequently for check ups (laughter).

Narrator:  The typical heart attack occurs when an artery to the heart gets blocked.  Without blood, that part of the heart dies leaving it scarred and weaker reducing its pumping power.

Dr. Gammon: When we look at the overall function, we would talk about the ejection fraction which is the percentage of blood that pumps out each time the heart squeezes and that ejection fraction increases in people that respond.  So 3 parameters really- the size of the scar, the activity of the muscle and the overall strength of the heart.

Eddie: I didn’t have to take any rejection or any rejection medicine or anything like that.  Just generic stem cells that became heart.

Dr. Gammon:  In the first 7 days after a heart attack, the heart cells that are dying are emitting homing signals, a beacon that says I need help and the stem cells are able to respond to that. We do that to a small amount anyway when we try to heal ourselves after a heart attack, but in this case we are giving the patient millions of stem cells that can recognize that homing signals and travel through the veins and travel through the lungs and make it to the heart.  And they  become myoblasts and then myocytes and then they have become truly functioning heart muscle at that point.

Eddie: And it has apparently regenerated the muscle that died during the heart attack.

Dr. Gammon: He was one of them who had complete resolution of the heart attack.  You couldn’t see any evidence of damage.  He had normal heart function so he had a pretty dramatic response.

Eddie: There really isn’t anything I can’t do because of my heart that I am aware of.  There are a few things I can’t do because of my belly (laughter), but nothing I can’t do because of my heart.

Narrator:  In this study, the stem cells are harvested from healthy adults between 18-30.  All the donors can be universal donors because the cells are processed to remove elements that cause rejection.  A heart attack victim just gets the next cartridge given in an IV.  This is an incredible breakthrough.

Over 1000 patients have received these allogenic mesenchymal stem cells taken from healthy volunteers.  There were studies done for Crohn’s disease, Graft Vs. Host Disease and a number  of other diseases.  In the heart study that was done there was 53 heart patients.  In the Phase 2 stem cell study, there will be 220 patients and we are dosing the second patient today.

Bills on Stem Cell Research in Texas

The Texas Legislature is considering Pro Life bills Senate Bill 73 and House Bill 2379 to promote ethical, life saving Adult Stem Cell research and treatments.  As Texans we have a choice, we can support  Adult Stem Cell research which has proven to help many like Eddie and successfully treated 1000’s more with over 70 other diseases and conditions.

Or we can support Embryonic stem cell research which requires the destruction of human embryos and has yet to cure any disease.  Embryonic stem cell research is the choice of California spending $3 billion.  Their first goal is to restore function for one disease in the next 10 years.  Research has been going on for 10 years for embryonic stem cell research frequently causing tumors in lab animals.

Contrast that with adult stem cell research where doctors continue to find positive effects on even more diseases.

The Stem Cell Treatment Helped the Lungs Too

Dr. Gammon:  A lot of the patients were smokers and had chronic bronchitis and emphysema and the stem cells actually improved some of that process so over time the lungs improved in the people who got cells while it didn’t improve in the patients who got the placebo. So now the company is starting a whole round of studies to treat Emphysema and the lungs with stem cells

original post by Don Margolis

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