A first: Germans use stem cells to treat heart disease

August 30, 2001

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)

August 24, 2001

Dusseldorf, Germany (dpa) -

In a first, German physicians used stem cells to treat chronic heart disease,

with remarkable results.

The doctors injected stem cells from bone marrow into the cardiac artery of a

46-year-old patient, resulting in a speedy

and full recovery.

" Just 10 weeks after the transplant the risk of coronary attack had dropped by

one-third, and heart efficiency had

improved dramatically, " said cardiologist Bodo Eckehard Strauer am Friday in

Dusseldorf.

He said the stem cells used in this procedure were not controversial embryo stem

cells, but rather cells from the

patient himself.

" Stem cell therapy could be more successful than any hitherto therapy, " said

Strauer.

" Now even patients with serious heart disease can be treated with their own stem

cells rather than hoping for a

transplant. "

The unnamed 46-year-old patient suffered a massive coronary on March 25 which

damaged about 25 per cent of the heart

muscle tissue.

Four days later the Dusseldorf specialists extracted stem cells from the bone

marrow of the patient. The next day the

cells were injected into the enlarged artery, from which they spread to the

damaged tissue.

The Dusseldorf specialists had used the same procedure with six patients so far.

The other five patients, aged 38 to 67,

are in good condition, according to the hospital.

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Good Health & Long Life,

Greg ,

gowatson@...

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