DesertFox
08-05-2007, 03:42 PM
AUSTRALIA'S top heart specialists believe they have found a treatment to stop heart disease in its tracks, potentially saving millions of lives worldwide.
Experts from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital will today unveil the groundbreaking discovery which involves using adult stem cells from patients to repair their own hearts.
The world-first treatment has been shown to generate new blood vessels and repair dead tissue in the heart.
Importantly, the changes appear to be permanent.
Heart disease is the world's biggest killer, claiming 17 million lives a year.
In Australia, there are 3.5 million sufferers and 50,000 die annually, 35 per cent of all deaths.
The new treatment involves injecting patients with a hormone to release beneficial stem cells from their bone marrow into their bloodstream.
More (http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22190312-921,00.html)
Experts from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital will today unveil the groundbreaking discovery which involves using adult stem cells from patients to repair their own hearts.
The world-first treatment has been shown to generate new blood vessels and repair dead tissue in the heart.
Importantly, the changes appear to be permanent.
Heart disease is the world's biggest killer, claiming 17 million lives a year.
In Australia, there are 3.5 million sufferers and 50,000 die annually, 35 per cent of all deaths.
The new treatment involves injecting patients with a hormone to release beneficial stem cells from their bone marrow into their bloodstream.
More (http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,22190312-921,00.html)