Approximately 5 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with heart failure, and about 300,000 people die each year from this disease (according to Medline). Heart failure is when the heart is unable to pump an adequate amount of blood to the body, often due to coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Symptoms of heart failure include blood and fluid backing up into the lungs causing shortness of breath, blood and fluid backing up in the extremities causing swelling or edema, and quick onset fatigue.
The Boston Globe recently published an article titled “Gene experiment may offer hope for those with cardiac failure“. In this article, the author discusses how scientists in San Francisco have discovered that they are able to take fibroblasts, which are connective tissue cells that make up about half of the heart, and regenerate them back into working heart cells. This new ability gives them hope that they can use this as a new way to treat heart failure by repairing the damaged tissue.
“After a heart attack, the blood supply to the organ is cut off, leaving sections without the oxygen they need. Cells in the oxygen-starved areas die, form scar tissue, and no longer contract properly, impairing the heart’s pumping. Patients with this kind of damage, known as heart failure, can become exhausted by walking or climbing stairs.”
They’re hoping that clinical trials will begin in the next 5 years. I’m hopeful for any advances in heart failure as I can see the intense effect it has on peoples’ lives after their cardiac function begins to decline. Here’s to hoping for a cure.
