Stem cell treatments for heart attacks
Acute myocardial infarctions (AMI), commonly known as heart attacks, are responsible for about 12.6% of deaths worldwide, according to The World Health Report 2004 – Changing History. In the United States, about 16.6% of those who have heart attacks die within 30 days of the attack. Outside of AIDS and a few infectious diseases, AMI is the biggest killer of adults.
An AMI is essentially caused by a blockage of the coronary arteries which leads to cellular damage of some of the heart muscle (myocardium). This prognosis can be minor to deadly, depending on a lot of issues such as other cardiovascular risk profile (diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, smoking and others), quality of treatment, and severity of the tissue damage. Over the past few years, treatments have improved the outlook for AMI sufferers, but the risk of a subsequent heart attacks and mortality rates are still high.Read More »Stem cell treatments for heart attacks