An experimental treatment for heart attack victims uses stem cell injections to heal the injured muscle. If successful, the therapy could be used in ER

PEOPLE who survive heart attacks rarely return to perfect health %u2014 and most suffer permanent damage. During cardiac arrest, the heart stops pumping blood, causing oxygen-deprived heart muscle cells to die. This weakens the heart and causes scarring. The remaining heart muscle cells must then work harder pumping blood to compensate, leading to an often deadly condition known as congestive heart failure.

Currently there's no way to repair injured cardiac tissue, but experimental therapies using adult stem cells may one day be able to help rejuvenate ailing hearts and halt progressive heart failure, allowing disabled cardiac patients to resume normal living and potentially saving thousands of lives. "This is a very hot area in cardiology research and could revolutionize the way we treat people with heart attacks," says Dr. Robb MacLellan, a cardiologist researching stem cells at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. "But at the moment, there are still a lot of unknowns.".... MORE- Los Angeles Times