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Asked by thecookieman to Emma, James, Jayne, Kara, Sharon on 16 Mar 2011 in Categories: Stem Cells.
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Sharon Sneddon answered on 15 Mar 2011:
Hello,
Yes, in several ways.
New drugs to stop the damage heart attacks can cause are tested out on stem cells to check how well they work, so that is one way in which they can help.
Another way is that if scientists grow cardiac stem cells in the lab and then transplant these into the heart of someone who has damage in their heart muscle as a result of a heart attack, then that would be another way. Cardiac stem cells are great to look at in the lab as they beat like heart muscle cells. It ‘s pretty freaky when you first see it, but I think it’s pretty cool. If you are interested, then this link will show you some beating heart stem cells!!
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James Chan answered on 15 Mar 2011:
Yes people have done research whereby they injected stem cells into the hearts of people who have had heart attacks and found that they can help improve the heart by making it beat better. The funny thing, though, is that people can’t find where these cells are after a while. You would imagine you’d find them where you injected them, but they kind of disappear! So people are now wondering whether these stem cells help the heart heal by turning into heart cells themselves or whether they help turn the stem cells that are already in the heart into new heart cells. The British Heart Foundation just got something like £50 million to work things like this out!
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Emma King answered on 16 Mar 2011:
Hi thecookieman – they wouldn’t be able to help if you were actually having a heart attack, especially if it was one that came out of the blue. Heart attacks happen very quickly so normally there is just about enough time for the ambulance to get there!
They could help in the long term though if a part of your heart had died due to a lack of blood supply – stem cells could help to regrow the damaged parts but as far as I know this is not a treatment that has been approved yet. Like most stem cell therapies the ideas and research are there but they can take 10+ years to get to market and be proven to be safe. -
Jayne Charnock answered on 16 Mar 2011:
Hi cookieman
Probably not during the attack, but they have been successfully used afterwards by doctors to help the tissue rebuild. The type of stem cells they have used also produce alot of ‘healthy factors’ that help the other cells in the damaged tissue grow better, and the doctors have found an improvement in cardiac function afterwards.
Ive included a link to some research about the issue- you can also google ‘mesenchymal stem cells and cardiac regeneration’:
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