Life Facts - Heart patient dramatically improves after injections using his own stem cells

Joe Galsser, 74, after suffering from a massive heart attack was left in a weakened state. He had a pacemaker implanted and was told that he would have five years to live. Seventy-five percent of his heart had died and there was nothing more they could do. That is until he participated in a stem cell study at the University of California San Diego, where doctors extracted stem cells from his leg, cultivated them in a lab and injected them into his damaged heart. He had no problems or side affects and said,"I feel excellent and I can do whatever I want to." This procedure is so minimally invasive that patients did not require anesthesia. This could revolutionize health care because the patient can go home within 24 hours of the procedure. Therefore the costs would dramatically decrease from $200,000 for a heart transplant to $20,000 - $25,000 (even as low as $8,000) for a stem cell transplant.

For more information visit these websites:
ABC News
WebMD

Tags: stem cell, heart treatment