University of Iowa testing new stem cell treatment: Hope is to combat heart disease

Source: Iowa City Press-Citizen
Posted: October 19, 2006

Summary:

Researchers at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics are studying a new stem cell treatment that could combat chronic myocardial ischemia, one of the most severe forms of coronary artery disease and the leading killer in the U.S., according to University Hospital officials. They hope the work will determine whether a patient's own cardiac stem cells can be used to treat the disease conventional interventions have failed.

Commentary: Hopefully this study will produce a successful treatment for heart disease and provide researchers with a better understanding of how to stem cells function in order to treat heart disease and damage in humans.