Simon Booker
Well-known member
I found this article and was quite impressed with the science. If it works, it might offer an alternative to OHS and valve replacement for many?
I have duplicated the newpaper article below. It also has contact details for the European medical centre that seems to be offering this treatment.
Worth looking into? Has anyone else come across this?
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"In a pioneering procedure, stem cells are being used to grow new blood vessels to cure the problem forever.
Barbro Lowed, 61, a retired air stewardess from London, was one of the first to undergo the treatment, as she tells BOUDICCA FOX-LEONARD. THE PATIENT Barbro Lowed's pioneering treatment in Germany may have saved her life
One morning I woke up feeling really tired - I couldn't understand it because I'd had a good night's sleep. Then over the next few weeks I started to feel breathless - it was a struggle even walking upstairs, which was odd as I've always been so fit and healthy.
After about two months of this, my feet suddenly swelled up overnight - I couldn't even get my shoes on - and my throat felt really tight. My husband was extremely worried, so he insisted on taking me to the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, which is nearby.
I couldn't believe it when, a few hours later after undergoing tests, doctors said I had heart failure; I thought it was something 80-year-olds got.
The doctors said my heart wasn't pumping blood around my body fast enough. They couldn't say why this had happened, but one of the valves was damaged, which meant my heart was struggling so I wasn't getting enough oxygen.
The bottom line was I'd need surgery to replace my heart valve with a plastic one.
Unless it was repaired, my heart would steadily worsen, until it couldn't function any more. Even though I needed the operation straight away, the NHS waiting list was two years, which really worried me.
After six months, with no sign of an operation date, I was getting desperate. I felt dizzy and lethargic all the time and couldn't even walk to the local shops without struggling for breath.
Then I read an article in the Daily Mail about a man who'd had his heart failure cured in Germany using stem cells. The stem cells had been taken from his bone marrow and implanted in his heart. Because stem cells can turn into almost any type of cell in the body, they'd turned into new blood vessels and restored his heart.
No one was performing the procedure in the UK, but when I searched on the internet I found four doctors in Germany doing it. I wrote to all of them, and a month later Professor Andreas Zeiher wrote back. He said I could take part in a pioneering stem cell transplant programme to repair the damaged valves.
He explained that the procedure would involve taking stem cells from my hip and injecting them into the heart valve - the whole process would take three days.
I knew straight away I wanted to have it done, although it was expensive - £7,000. But I would have done anything to feel normal again.
What also appealed was that the procedure didn't involve major open heart surgery, which would have been necessary to have the valve replaced in the UK.
I flew to Frankfurt for the operation in February 2005. First, I had various tests, including an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart). These confirmed I had weak valves. Professor Zeiher thought the damage had been caused by an infection a couple of years before, when I'd had two teeth removed.
The stem cell technology allowed doctors to give Barbro a new lease on life
I hadn't noticed any symptoms, but it was a relief to learn what had caused the heart failure in the first place. My NHS doctor had been vague, saying I must have had a heart attack, even though I knew I hadn't.
I had the operation the next day. First, the stem cells were extracted using a eedle; this took about five minutes. Then I waited for five hours while the cells were cleaned and processed.
For the actual transplant, I was given a local anaesthetic in my leg. The doctors then inserted a tiny camera through an artery and sent it up the heart to locate my faulty heart valve. I was able to watch the whole thing on the TVs in the operating theatre; it was fascinating.
Then the stem cells were inserted through a hollow tube - a catheter - also via my leg.
Then I had to lie still for five hours to allow the puncture in my thigh to seal. I was allowed to fly home the next day with instructions to carry on as normal, but not to overdo it. After about six weeks, I noticed my breathing had improved. Professor Zeiher recommended a second injection to improve it further. He said most people need three jabs to get the heart fully functioning again.
This one made a real difference - my breathing continued to improve and five months later I was able to go for walks without sweating and becoming breathless. I felt fantastic.
Two months later I went for a heart scan with a London doctor Professor Zeiher had referred me to. It showed my heart valve had repaired itself, which was amazing. A further scan last year showed it is still functioning normally.
Now I feel better than ever and I walk every day. The stem cell treatment might have been expensive, but was worth it; I have my life back.
THE SURGEONAndreas Zeiher, Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat in Frankfurt.
He says... Most people with heart failure manage with drugs such as beta-blockers, although around a third need open-heart surgery to carry out valve transplants or insert pacemakers because the problem is usually caused by damage to the valves or the heart muscle. But there are now other revolutionary ways to treat heart failure. The most exciting is with stem cell transplants.
Although bone marrow stem cell transplants have been around for more than 30 years, they have traditionally been used to treat conditions relating specifically to bone marrow, such as leukaemia, where it is no longer able to produce normal blood cells.
Using stem cells to repair other organs is something we have been researching only over the past seven years. But although it's considered a pioneering treatment, we're already starting to see positive results with cardiac patients.
Stem cells have this extraordinary ability to turn into other cells. They help the heart heal by encouraging the formation of new blood vessels, which brings more oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle.
And as far as we know, unlike drug treatments, stem cell transplants have no undesirable side-effects. The process is also less risky than conventional open-heart surgery, as it doesn't involve a general anaesthetic, which is always a concern with a heart failure patient.
And while there are keyhole techniques available to replace faulty heart valves, it's better to try to cure the problem altogether. Transplanting the cells is a simple procedure lasting about 15 minutes.
First, we harvest the stem cells from the bone marrow under local anaesthetic - the easiest place from which to do this is the hip bone. I puncture the skin with a 2mm diameter needle and then insert a syringe to collect 50ml of bone marrow.
This is sent to the laboratory and the stem cells are extracted. We then inject them into the blood vessels that supply the heart with oxygen. We don't know exactly how it works, but typically, four to six weeks after the stem cells are injected, the heart grows in strength and as such starts to pump better. This means blood flow improves and more oxygen is pumped around the body, making breathing easier.
Most patients need three injections over the space of a year, but Barbro was lucky that she made a major improvement after the second.
Unfortunately, this procedure is available at only one specialist clinic in the UK, St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, but I hope it will soon become more widely available, as it is such a major advance.
Barbro was one of the first people in the world to have the procedure and she's a great example of what it can do.
? For further information: Tel: +49 69 6301 5789 Fax: +49 69 6301 6374 [email protected]
I have duplicated the newpaper article below. It also has contact details for the European medical centre that seems to be offering this treatment.
Worth looking into? Has anyone else come across this?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In a pioneering procedure, stem cells are being used to grow new blood vessels to cure the problem forever.
Barbro Lowed, 61, a retired air stewardess from London, was one of the first to undergo the treatment, as she tells BOUDICCA FOX-LEONARD. THE PATIENT Barbro Lowed's pioneering treatment in Germany may have saved her life
One morning I woke up feeling really tired - I couldn't understand it because I'd had a good night's sleep. Then over the next few weeks I started to feel breathless - it was a struggle even walking upstairs, which was odd as I've always been so fit and healthy.
After about two months of this, my feet suddenly swelled up overnight - I couldn't even get my shoes on - and my throat felt really tight. My husband was extremely worried, so he insisted on taking me to the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, which is nearby.
I couldn't believe it when, a few hours later after undergoing tests, doctors said I had heart failure; I thought it was something 80-year-olds got.
The doctors said my heart wasn't pumping blood around my body fast enough. They couldn't say why this had happened, but one of the valves was damaged, which meant my heart was struggling so I wasn't getting enough oxygen.
The bottom line was I'd need surgery to replace my heart valve with a plastic one.
Unless it was repaired, my heart would steadily worsen, until it couldn't function any more. Even though I needed the operation straight away, the NHS waiting list was two years, which really worried me.
After six months, with no sign of an operation date, I was getting desperate. I felt dizzy and lethargic all the time and couldn't even walk to the local shops without struggling for breath.
Then I read an article in the Daily Mail about a man who'd had his heart failure cured in Germany using stem cells. The stem cells had been taken from his bone marrow and implanted in his heart. Because stem cells can turn into almost any type of cell in the body, they'd turned into new blood vessels and restored his heart.
No one was performing the procedure in the UK, but when I searched on the internet I found four doctors in Germany doing it. I wrote to all of them, and a month later Professor Andreas Zeiher wrote back. He said I could take part in a pioneering stem cell transplant programme to repair the damaged valves.
He explained that the procedure would involve taking stem cells from my hip and injecting them into the heart valve - the whole process would take three days.
I knew straight away I wanted to have it done, although it was expensive - £7,000. But I would have done anything to feel normal again.
What also appealed was that the procedure didn't involve major open heart surgery, which would have been necessary to have the valve replaced in the UK.
I flew to Frankfurt for the operation in February 2005. First, I had various tests, including an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart). These confirmed I had weak valves. Professor Zeiher thought the damage had been caused by an infection a couple of years before, when I'd had two teeth removed.
The stem cell technology allowed doctors to give Barbro a new lease on life
I hadn't noticed any symptoms, but it was a relief to learn what had caused the heart failure in the first place. My NHS doctor had been vague, saying I must have had a heart attack, even though I knew I hadn't.
I had the operation the next day. First, the stem cells were extracted using a eedle; this took about five minutes. Then I waited for five hours while the cells were cleaned and processed.
For the actual transplant, I was given a local anaesthetic in my leg. The doctors then inserted a tiny camera through an artery and sent it up the heart to locate my faulty heart valve. I was able to watch the whole thing on the TVs in the operating theatre; it was fascinating.
Then the stem cells were inserted through a hollow tube - a catheter - also via my leg.
Then I had to lie still for five hours to allow the puncture in my thigh to seal. I was allowed to fly home the next day with instructions to carry on as normal, but not to overdo it. After about six weeks, I noticed my breathing had improved. Professor Zeiher recommended a second injection to improve it further. He said most people need three jabs to get the heart fully functioning again.
This one made a real difference - my breathing continued to improve and five months later I was able to go for walks without sweating and becoming breathless. I felt fantastic.
Two months later I went for a heart scan with a London doctor Professor Zeiher had referred me to. It showed my heart valve had repaired itself, which was amazing. A further scan last year showed it is still functioning normally.
Now I feel better than ever and I walk every day. The stem cell treatment might have been expensive, but was worth it; I have my life back.
THE SURGEONAndreas Zeiher, Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat in Frankfurt.
He says... Most people with heart failure manage with drugs such as beta-blockers, although around a third need open-heart surgery to carry out valve transplants or insert pacemakers because the problem is usually caused by damage to the valves or the heart muscle. But there are now other revolutionary ways to treat heart failure. The most exciting is with stem cell transplants.
Although bone marrow stem cell transplants have been around for more than 30 years, they have traditionally been used to treat conditions relating specifically to bone marrow, such as leukaemia, where it is no longer able to produce normal blood cells.
Using stem cells to repair other organs is something we have been researching only over the past seven years. But although it's considered a pioneering treatment, we're already starting to see positive results with cardiac patients.
Stem cells have this extraordinary ability to turn into other cells. They help the heart heal by encouraging the formation of new blood vessels, which brings more oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle.
And as far as we know, unlike drug treatments, stem cell transplants have no undesirable side-effects. The process is also less risky than conventional open-heart surgery, as it doesn't involve a general anaesthetic, which is always a concern with a heart failure patient.
And while there are keyhole techniques available to replace faulty heart valves, it's better to try to cure the problem altogether. Transplanting the cells is a simple procedure lasting about 15 minutes.
First, we harvest the stem cells from the bone marrow under local anaesthetic - the easiest place from which to do this is the hip bone. I puncture the skin with a 2mm diameter needle and then insert a syringe to collect 50ml of bone marrow.
This is sent to the laboratory and the stem cells are extracted. We then inject them into the blood vessels that supply the heart with oxygen. We don't know exactly how it works, but typically, four to six weeks after the stem cells are injected, the heart grows in strength and as such starts to pump better. This means blood flow improves and more oxygen is pumped around the body, making breathing easier.
Most patients need three injections over the space of a year, but Barbro was lucky that she made a major improvement after the second.
Unfortunately, this procedure is available at only one specialist clinic in the UK, St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, but I hope it will soon become more widely available, as it is such a major advance.
Barbro was one of the first people in the world to have the procedure and she's a great example of what it can do.
? For further information: Tel: +49 69 6301 5789 Fax: +49 69 6301 6374 [email protected]
