Infusion of stem cells could fix heart damage

I had a large heart attack about two years ago. As a result, my cardiologist says that my heart only pumps half as well as a healthy heart.

Im on a number of medications to help my heart, but can you tell me if theres anyone studying a way to restore a weak heart like mine back to the way it was? T.Y., Scranton, Pa.

Dear T.Y.: A heart attack is the permanent damage and death of heart muscle resulting from a blockage to the blood vessel supplying that area.

Once an area of tissue is dead, it forms a permanent scar and its gone for good or so weve always thought.

The results from a small but very exciting study conducted by the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute show that for the first time, heart attack patients who received an infusion of their own heart-derived stem cells were able to regrow healthy new heart muscle.

The Caduceus trial, just published online in the journal Lancet, involved 25 heart attack patients who, one year following their own stem cell infusion, showed a reduction in their heart attack scar size from 24 percent of their heart mass to only 12 percent. This represents a potential paradigm shift in our understanding of patients who are post-heart attack.

If this is successful when repeated on a larger study population, we may be able to help folks like you reverse the damage caused by a heart attack and dissolve your hearts scarring. Pretty exciting stuff!

My wife and I want to start a family in the near future.

Ive been taking Adderall for ADD, and am wondering if I need to stop it until my wife becomes pregnant. Does it affect the sperm? D.L., Flowery Branch, Ga.

Dear D.L.: There is nothing in the medical literature that shows taking a prescribed amphetamine like Adderall causes a reduction the sperm count, a reduction in sperm motility, sperm deformity or any damage to the genetic information contained within sperm.

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Infusion of stem cells could fix heart damage