Experts from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney will reveal the revolutionary treatment of heart illness involving the use of adult stem cells from patients to repair their own hearts. The first treatment has shown permanent changes that have generated new blood vessels and repaired dead tissue in the heart.
The treatment involves injecting patients with a hormone to release beneficial stem cells from bone marrow into the bloodstream. They are then put on a treadmill to encourage the cells to travel to the heart, where they create new blood vessels to restore circulation and boost heart function.
The new treatment has passed safety tests and the second phase of human trials began last week.
Professor David Ma, head of blood and stem cell research at St Vincent's, said the treatment was amazing because when the study began a few years ago, the whole hypothesis was different.
"It's given us a new direction to attack the situation. Because of the study results ... we have changed our emphasis."
Ma said the findings were significant as heart disease was already a massive problem in developed nations such as the U.S. and Britain, but was also rapidly growing in developing countries such as India and China.
Professor Bob Graham, head of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, told The Sunday Telegraph early findings were very promising.
