Study: Adult stem cells can cut heart failure deaths in half

A team of doctors has just published new findings showing another dramatic, life-saving application of adult stem cells, further undermining the case for harvesting stem cells from human embryos.

The results of what is being called the largest trial of its kind ever conducted showed that stem cells harvested from a patient’s bone marrow can cut deaths from end-stage heart failure in half. Recipients of stem cell therapy were also 37% less likely to require hospitalization in the following year.

Further research is required to conclusively determine whether this will be a realistic treatment for heart disease, but lead author Dr. Amit Pate of the University of Utah expressed confidence: “These results suggest that it really works.” If it proves viable, it is expected to also help mitigate shortages of donor organs.

“If this had been an embryonic stem cell breakthrough, you would have heard the headlines,” National Review’s Wesley Smith said in reaction to the news. “Don’t be surprised if the next embryonic stem cell animal study brings greater news coverage than this very hopeful story of an ethical technique now alleviating great human suffering.”

As Live Action News has covered in the past, numerous similar breakthroughs over the past several years have shown that stem cells can be acquired and put to major medical use without the ethical complication of killing embryonic humans. Scientists have even been able to induce “pluripotency” — the ability to to become multiple tissue types, said to be embryonic cells’ only advantage over stem cells from other sources — in adult stem cells.