World-first treatment to reverse heart disease on trial
Published: October 15, 2005
AUSTRALIAN researchers have developed a world-first treatment to reverse heart disease.
Clinical trials of the revolutionary treatment will begin within two months and are set to yield one of the holy grails of modern medicine. An anti-heart disease drug is set to be on the market within three years.
The treatment – using adult stem cells – will be injected straight after a heart attack and also used to repair the heart muscle of people with chronic heart disease.
Heart disease causes about one in five deaths in Australia and costs about $1.5 billion a year.
Melbourne-based bio-tech company Mesoblast, headed by leading stem researcher Professor Silviu Itescu, is behind the landmark discovery.
The company has discovered a rare cell in bone marrow which triggers the regrowth of heart muscle and arteries. Researchers determined how to isolate the cell and breed it outside the body.
When injected into the heart in huge quantities it reverses heart disease by sparking arterial and heart-muscle regeneration, a pre-clinical study has found.
Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital has approved a treatment trial in up to ten patients suffering chronic heart disease. The trial will begin within two months.
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