Julia Dunn,
A new clinical trial is giving hope to heart attack survivors. A simple stem cell injection could be the solution to repairing a damaged heart.
Lt. James Bailey learned about it during recovery from a heart attack he suffered in June of 2010. He had a massive attack with one hundred percent blockage. "They call it the 'widow-maker', because only one percent of people survive it. I consider myself very fortunate." Bailey says.
"Being 40 years old, anything that I could do to improve the function of the heart I was willing to do." Bailey explains. Cardiologist, Dr. Marc Schweiger says the infusions begin within one week of a patient's heart attack. "Half the people get the stem cells, half the people don't. It's done by an hour and half intravenous infusion."
Dr. Schweiger says often a heart repairs itself naturally, or with the help of drugs; but sometimes it's not enough. The hope is that once the stem cells enter the body, and travel to the heart, they'll generate new heart muscle. Long term, it improves a patient's quality of life. Making it easier to breathe and walk, among many things.
Because it's a clinical trial, it hasn't been revealed whether Bailey received stem cells or a placebo. If the trial is a success, Dr. Schweiger says it'll revolutionize recovery for heart attack survivors.
"We do things very differently now than what we did 34 years ago. Almost recognizably different." Dr. Schweiger says. "The reason we make progress is we do these types of therapies and test research to see what works for patients."