MIAMI – Advancements in the use of stem cell therapies in medicine are moving at a rapid pace.
Researchers in South Florida are investigating the benefits to people with damaged hearts.
A year after undergoing surgery to repair a valve in his heart, Ariel Ramirez, just 47-years-old at the time, was diagnosed with heart failure.
“It was heart wrenching for me because when I started reading up on what the effects were and what the life expectancy was, it wasn’t very long,” he said.
Dr. Joshua Hare, a heart failure specialist and stem cell researcher with UHealth, said heart failure is different than a heart attack.
He said it means the heart is not able to properly pump blood to the body.
“Heart failure starts with some sort of injury to the heart some kind of abnormality. It can happen at any age of life, children can get heart failure, but most commonly it’s a disease of aging,” said Hare.
With the help of his wife Victoria, Ramirez enrolled in a clinical trial at UHealth involving the use of stem cells.
“We’ve been experimenting with stem cells here at UHealth for over 15 years. The idea is if you have a heart attack, and you have some permanent injury to the heart that’s going to lead to heart failure. The idea would be can we repair or replace some of that injured tissue with living human cells,” he said.
Over the years, Hare said they’ve seen partial repair of a heart muscle scar.
“And in many, many patients we see dramatic improvement in level of symptoms which is very, very important,” he said.
Because the study is ‘double blinded’, Ramirez won’t know until its completion whether he received the actual stem cells or placebo, but he’s feeling optimistic.
“I can tell you that I feel a thousand times stronger than I did before it really changed my life,” he said.
While the current study protocol involves injecting the stem cells directly into the heart, Hare said they’re also investigating the use of an intravenous transfusion.