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Heart Conditions

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Which are the common heart conditions?

There are different heart diseases based on how they affect the structure or function of the heart. Common heart diseases include coronary artery and vascular disease, heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias), structural heart disease and heart failure.

Self-regeneration of human heart muscle following injury is extremely limited. Researchers investigated using a heart muscle associated protein called laminin to promote the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into heart cell precursors. Their method led to stem cells differentiating into cardiovascular precursor cells. These included three main sub-populations: cardiac muscle-like cells, fibroblast-like cells, and epithelial-like cells; but did not develop into cells with a propensity to develop into tumours.

Stem Cells

Researchers are using stem cells in two ways to improve cardiac health. First, they are turning stem cells into “heart muscle in a dish.” If patients have genetic heart disease, their stem cell-derived heart muscle will also be diseased; this can be used to discover new drugs. Second, stem cells offer ways to replace damaged heart tissue. With cellular therapy, researchers hope to repair or replace heart tissue damaged by congestive heart failure and heart attacks. Unlike the treatments listed above, cellular therapy could provide a durable treatment for heart deficiencies, rather than symptom-focused treatment.