Growth Factor Injections May Mend a Broken Heart

Researchers of a new study say that injecting mice with growth factor can mend their broken hearts without the use of stem cells.

Stem cell therapy is very controversial because many view it as being unethical.

After a heart attack, the heart muscle does not repair itself, meaning that it is often damaged for ever.

Although the growth factor worked to regenerate heart tissue in mice, the researchers do not know if similar results would be present in humans.

When mice with damaged heart muscle were injected with the growth factor, their hearts improved in pumping, and overall heart health increased significantly.

“To my knowledge, this is the first regenerative therapy that may be applicable in a systemic way,” said Bernhard Kuhn of Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School.

The study is published in the July 24 issue of Cell.