As Al Green so eloquently put it all those years ago, “how can you mend a broken heart?” A recent study has found that stem cells may in fact be used to heal scars and other damage after a heart attack.

The CADUCEUS (CArdiosphere-Derived aUtologous stem CElls to Reverse ventricUlar dySfunction) study involved 25 patients, who were of an average age of 53 and had suffered from a heart attack in the previous month.

After a heart attack, scarring left on your heart weakens the muscle and inhibits your ticker’s efficiency. This recent study showed that patients who received the stem cell treatment enjoyed a 50% reduction in scarring, from 24% down to 12%.

Professor Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, who led the US team, said: “The effects are substantial, and surprisingly larger in humans than they were in animal tests.

“This discovery challenges the conventional wisdom that, once established, scar is permanent and that, once lost, healthy heart muscle cannot be restored.”

The study is still in very early stages but this early breakthrough is a massive achievement in cardiology. Scar tissue, previously thought to be permanent, can be significantly reduced without impairing the heart’s ability to perform its sole purpose.

While the primary goal of our study was to verify safety, we also looked for evidence that the treatment might dissolve scar and regrow lost heart muscle,” Eduardo Marbán, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, told PhysOrg. “This has never been accomplished before, despite a decade of cell therapy trials for patients with heart attacks. Now we have done it. The effects are substantial, and surprisingly larger in humans than they were in animal tests.

The study paves the way for similar treatments to be used in dealing with other heart related problems and could mean amazing things for patients who suffer from heart failure.

[Source: Sky News, BBC News, Physorg]