Tuesday, March 07, 2017

‘Stem cell therapy can help treat patients with diabetic heart disease'

Karaikal: Recent advancements in stem cell research have brought hope about the successful treatment of diabetic heart disease (DHD), renowned New Zealand-based researcher in cardiovascular diseases Dr Rajesh Katare said on Tuesday.
DHD affects the muscular tissues of the heart, leading to complications, and it has been demonstrated that resident stem cells of myocardium can be stimulated to repair and replace degenerated cardiac myocytes, resulting in a novel therapeutic effect and ultimately cardiac regeneration, he said.
Katare, the director of the cardiovascular research division at the University of Otago, New Zealand, was delivering the keynote address at the continuing medical education programme on the role of micro-RNAs and stem cells in cardiac regeneration in diabetic heart disease at the Karaikal campus of Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education (JIPMER).
Presenting clinical evidences, Katare said stem cell therapy certainly presented new hope for successfully treating DHD.
Dr Subash Chandra Parija, Director, JIPMER, pointed out that it was the first such programme on the role of stem cells in cardiac regeneration in the whole of the country.
He said that since diabetes was highly prevalent in the country, providing treatment for DHD had become a big challenge.

Patients suffering from the condition have to undergo lifelong treatment and medications. “In this backdrop, advancements in stem cell therapy assume significance,” he said. -PTI
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