Heart Disease: Stem Cells To Toothbrushes

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-Dr.Dianne McCallister, Chief Medical Officer at Centuras Porter Adventist Hospital February is heart month, and we are all familiar with exercise and diet to help our hearts. But do you know how stem cells or your toothbrush can help your heart? This week, Lancet published an article on the use of Stem Cells to help repair the heart.Other medical literature shows a link between the health of your teeth and heart disease. What Are Stem Cells? Stem cells are a type of body cell that still has the ability to become any type of tissue. They work in our bodies to help our tissues repair themselves.When stem cells divide, the new cell has the choice to stay a stem cell - or to become a certain type of tissue cell - in this case, were talking about them become heart muscle cells.For years science has been working on the theory that stem cells could be harvested, grown and then used to repair, or grow organs. Healing Damaged Hearts With Stem Cells The researchers at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles took 25 patients who had suffered severe heart attacks - 24% of the muscle in the wall of their ventricle - which is the chamber that pumps blood to the body - was scarred and not functioning.These patients had the normal treatment for heart attacks - but also had stem cells harvested from their heart, grown in the lab, and then re- injected into their hearts.Another group of patients with similar heart attacks just received the usual heart treatment.The patients without stem cells did not show any improvement in their heart muscle - but the stem cell patients had about half the injury to their heart reversed - in other words, the scar was dissolved and replaced with functioning heart muscle.This is a very small study, and it is too early to predict when and if this will become a common treatmentThat being said, it is promising that stem cell therapy may have a new promise for heart attack victims.Standard therapy helps the damaged heart function as well as possible while also limiting the chance of another heart attack.This gives hope that we can reverse the damage.However, we need to remember that there is a lot of testing that needs to happen to determine if there are any unwanted side effects of giving stem cells, when it is appropriate to use them, and what long term effects are from using them. Dental Health And Our Hearts There is growing evidence showing that gum disease has an association with heart disease.We know that gum disease - called gingivitis - allows bacteria from our mouth to get into our blood stream.This is somehow related with inflammation and development of blockages in the vessels of the heart.In addition to brushing, we need to be flossing. Using an antiseptic mouth wash daily and regular dental visits to have teeth cleaned is also important.In fact, good dental health habits are associated with a longer life.There are associations between poor dental health and development of such diseases as diabetes, stroke, lung disease and even pre-term births.So the five minutes you spend twice daily on your teeth is an investment in your overall health as wellDr. McCallister is on 7NEWS at 11 a.m. every Wednesday. If you have a topic or question you would like her to discuss, email 11am@thedenverchannel.com. The following are comments from our users. Opinions expressed are neither created nor endorsed by TheDenverChannel.com. By posting a comment you agree to accept our Terms of Use. Comments are moderated by the community. To report an offensive or otherwise inappropriate comment, click the "Flag" link that appears beneath that comment. Comments that are flagged by a set number of users will be automatically removed.

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Heart Disease: Stem Cells To Toothbrushes