Using skin cells to repair damaged hearts

When someone has a heart attack, getting treatment quickly can mean the difference between life and death. Every minute delay in getting help means more heart cells die, and that can have profound consequences. One study found that heart attack patients who underwent surgery to re-open blocked arteries within 60 minutes of arriving in the … Continue reading Using skin cells to repair damaged hearts

Ready, Set, Go: CIRM funded clinical trial for heart disease finishes patient enrollment

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States with over 600,000 deaths occurring per year. Patients with heart disease or heart failure are given treatments that attempt to prevent their condition from getting worse or improve some of their symptoms. However, no treatment exists that can completely restore their heart function … Continue reading Ready, Set, Go: CIRM funded clinical trial for heart disease finishes patient enrollment

HOPE for patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-associated heart disease

It’s an exciting week for CIRM-funded clinical trials. Yesterday, we blogged about a young man named Kris Boesen who is responding positively to a stem cell therapy in a Phase 1/2a CIRM-funded clinical trial for spinal cord injury run by Asterias Biotherapeutics. Paralyzed from the chest down after a terrible car accident, Kris now has regained some use … Continue reading HOPE for patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy-associated heart disease

Out of the mouths, or in this case hearts, of babes comes a hopeful therapy for heart attack patients

Lessons learned from babies with heart failure could now help adults Inspiration can sometimes come from the most unexpected of places. For English researcher Stephen Westaby it came from seeing babies who had heart attacks bounce back and recover. It led Westaby to a new line of research that could offer hope to people who … Continue reading Out of the mouths, or in this case hearts, of babes comes a hopeful therapy for heart attack patients