Stem Cell Therapy Keeps Patients From Possible Heart Failure, Study Says

A new study found a way to save the patients from a heart failure. This new therapy promises to reduce deaths and hospitalization mostly to those who are suffering severe stage of the disease.

The stem cell therapy was developed by Vericel Corp. It gives hope to the patients left without other treatment options.

Clinical results showed that it reduced death, unplanned medical consultations and hospital admissions because of heart failure by 37 percent among the patients who undergone stem cell therapy compared to those who received a placebo. The stem cells were taken from the patient's bone marrow, UPI reported.

"For the last 15 years, everyone has been talking about cell therapy and what it can do. These results suggest that it really works," study author and cardiac surgeon Dr. Amit Patel, director of Cardiovascular Regenerative Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, said.

According to the American Heart Association, a damaged or weakened heart cannot pump the blood normally during a heart failure. It is a fatal disease affecting 5.7 million Americans.

The study was done to 126 heart failure patients, were 60 patients received a stem cell therapy while the rest were given a placebo. After a year, four percent of those who received the stem cell therapy died and around 52 percent were hospitalized for heart failure. Eight percent of the patient on the other group died and more than 82 percent were hospitalized.

According to Tech Times, the study lead author, Timothy Henry said that their study showed a possibility to dramatically decrease the events of severe heart failure. "For patients, this is a really hopeful thing," he added.

"I think this trial provides strong evidence that regenerative therapies are very promising for this group of people, who currently have limited options," Henry said.