Stem cell research in Australia looks to be promising in regard to helping to regenerate heart muscle in heart attack victims. This is a fantastic bit of scientific news and just represents how incredible our scientific abilities have become. The concept is to try and use stem cells to regenerate areas of scar within the hearts of people who have had heart attacks. Stem cells are the cells that are found in the bone marrow and have the ability to develop into any type of adult cell. This is promising new technology. It is at least several years away but it will make an enormous difference. Importantly, however, what it doesn’t do is address the risk of the initial heart attack and it is important to remember that the statistics show that 1 in 6 people that do have a heart attack die immediately. This incredibly scary and sobering statistic means that prevention before an event remains incredibly important, and when combined with technology that can help people after a heart attack we are moving toward better and better care. So the promise of stem cell regeneration for myocardial muscle is fantastic but our efforts should still remain on trying to avoid the heart attack in the first place. I’ve written a book about prevention to discuss this in more detail.

Join The Healthy Heart Network