It is significant medical news when a major study by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center leads to clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test cardiac stem cells in humans. At New Jersey Pain Care Specialists we’ve been using stem cell therapy to restore and repair the damage from conditions such as degenerative disc disease, desiccated discs, spinal stenosis, facet arthrosis, sacroiliac joint syndrome, osteoarthritis of any joint, and sports or overuse injuries. We’ve seen the benefits first hand, so we’re happy to see the medical establishment take up the cause for an exciting new, life-saving application.
I recently noticed the following article at Science Daily: “Stem Cell Infusion Could Be Effective for Most Common Type of Heart Failure.” It reported that a new study from the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute showed that cardiac stem cells could be an effective treatment for a common but difficult-to-treat type of heart failure. The study led to clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration for an Investigational New Drug application to test the cells in patients.
Appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology Basic and Translational Science, the study shows that weeks after infusions of cardiosphere-derived cells, the heart-pumping function returned to normal in laboratory rats with hypertension and diastolic heart failure.
Success with heart failure
Formerly known as diastolic heart failure, the diagnosis now called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes so stiff that its pumping chambers cannot properly fill with blood. Even though the heart’s ability to pump blood to the body remains normal, its inability to fill with blood over time can lead to fluid buildup. This affects other body organs and causes fluid congestion, especially in the lungs. The hard-to-treat condition leads to extreme fatigue and difficulty breathing.
Today, more than half of patients with heart failure have heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which is particularly common in women and in patients who also have diabetes, obesity and hypertension.
“There is an enormous unmet clinical need, but nobody has a clue as to how to treat it,” said the director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, noting that approximately 3 million people in the U.S. have this form of heart failure. “None of the drugs that work in regular heart failure work for these patients.”
The director, an international leader in cardiac stem cell research, led the Cedars-Sinai team that completed the world’s first cardiac stem cell infusion in 2009. Results from that clinical trial showed that stem cells could regenerate new, healthy heart muscle after a heart attack. The director’s work now also examines whether stem cells can be used to heal other heart ailments.
Lab test
In the new research study, 34 laboratory rats with hypertension and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction were given infusions of cardiac stem cells. A second group of 34 laboratory rats were given a placebo. Four weeks later, the rats in the stem cells group had normalized heart function and their hearts were able to fill normally. Those in the placebo group became progressively sicker and died prematurely.
“When patients with preserved ejection fraction get sick, they might be hospitalized and they might be prescribed medications like diuretics, which reduce the buildup of fluid in the lungs. The patients might get better symptomatically, but we haven’t really treated the underlying condition,” said the lead author of the study. “This research suggests that cardiac stem cells could be effective as a therapeutic agent, and there is a specific treatment we can try when everything else has failed.”
The study was funded by the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Heart Stem Cell Center. General support for the laboratory is provided by the National Institutes of Health.
At the present time, Stem Cell Therapy is not covered by medical insurance.
