Posted on 08/06/2010 11:56:54 AM PDT by Daffynition
In as little as five years, researchers hope to be able to coax the heart into regenerating itself, repairing the damage caused by cardiac arrests and old age.
The revolutionary treatment could be possible after scientists discovered a technique for turning ordinary connective tissue into muscle cells inside the heart.
It works in a similar way to stem cells but instead of the new cells being grown outside the body and then injected back in, the technique simply makes the cells switch at the point where they are needed.
Around 700,000 people in Britain suffer from heart failure because it has virtually no ability to repair itself after an attack.
The main problem is that when beating muscles cells known as cardiomyocytes die during an attack there is no way to reactivate them and the surrounding connective tissue known as fibroblasts cannot take over their role.
Now Professor Deepak Srivastava at the Gladstone Institute, University of California, and his team have discovered a way of reprogramming fibroblasts into cardiomyocy
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Good. NHS can save more money, if the patients refuse to heal their own hearts than why should they get socialized medical care? < /sarc >
Hurry.
ahahaha, they said old age.
Why would anyone want the aged around. They serve no purpose. The heart might be great but they might still need other procedures if they live to a riper old age. They take money from Medicare and SS.
Obama will have to stop that crap.
Take an aspirin and die you old farts, die!
Now THAT would be cool!
At some point the government will be so broke even the aspirin will be too much expense.
V-E-R-Y cool!
It points to a whole new way of potentially doing therapy, said Chad Cowan, an assistant professor in the department of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This gives you the idea that you can take those fibroblasts, re-educate them to become heart muscle and thereby repair someones heart.
I’ve heard that the reason no one gets cancer of the heart is because it’s cells regenerate so slowly.
Cue the Bee Gees.
Stayin' aliiiiiive...
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