People who suffer from angina are familiar with severe chest pain, and unfortunately, few treatments are available.
Now U.S. researchers have discovered that by injecting stem cells from the same patient, quality of life was greatly improved, allowing for increased physical stamina, according to a study published in American Heart Association journal, Circulation Research.
In order to have enough stem cells, scientists first administered a growth-stimulating drug to the patient. Then, the stem cells were extracted from bone marrow and, using a catheter, injected directly into the heart, helping to create new blood vessels in the heart muscle and improving blood flow.
In the study, 167 patients were given either high, low or placebo stem cell doses. One year later, the low-dose group only experienced an average of 6.3 pain episodes a week, compared to 11 for the placebo group. There was little difference in the high-dosage group.
Also performance tests indicated that low-dose group showed they could tolerate exercise for an additional 139 seconds after six months, while the placebo group improved by 69 seconds.
“The net difference in exercise tolerance is highly clinically significant…," said lead researcher Professor Douglas Losordo, from Northwestern University in Chicago. "It translates as going from being able to watch television to being able to walk at a normal pace or going from being able to walk slowly to being able to ride a bike."
Later this year, the final phase of clinical trials will be launched, and if all goes well, the treatment should be approved for clinical use.