An article in the Standard came out today with a recent result of the Stem Cell Therapy being conducted at Bart's Health Trust Charity.
The findings shows a remarkable improvement of the LV functions of patients with heart failure after a heart attack. Patients who received a placebo at the beginning of the research in the early 2000s were recalled to receive stem cells. Stem cells are believed to generate new muscle cells. These then were injected to the patient's dead LV muscles.
In the London Chest Hospital, as the pioneer of the Stem Cell Therapy, patients who were admitted with heart attacks were screened after their procedure, only those who have had angioplasty or PCI to their LAD or left ascending artery were recruited. It's this artery that supplies the LV or left ventricle, that's when blocked, it causes LV muscle death resulting to heart failure. The severity depends on how much muscle death was affected and the LV function.
Stem cells were harvested from the patients themselves. So patients either received their own or placebo, which ever was randomly chosen to be given.
This is great news for a huge number of patients who will benefit. Seeing the number of patients having a heart attack everyday, it's hugely increasing compared to 10 years ago.
At present, it is still ongoing at St. Bartholomew's Hospital as the London Chest Hospital closed last year. I can just imagine my friends in the Research Dept getting more swamped with paper work ;) I personally am thinking of longer stays for patients in the Coronary Care Unit...so our ward needs more beds!
A slight tap on the shoulder for all of the London Chest' cath lab, research and CCU personnels who played a part. This in recognition for all the hard work throughout these years and in remembrance of London Chest Hospital. Moving on.
1. 1st image from standard.co.uk
2. Reproductions of a painting of London Chest made available to staff before it closed in 2015.
3. Last image taken with my Samsung S6
Very important and informative post. Upvoted and following
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Thank you. You got a new follower too.
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Many thanks
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