Can stem cells heal damaged hearts?

"Recent studies indicate that infusing hearts with stem cells taken from bone marrow could improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction (tissue damage that results from a heart attack). But in a recent systematic review, Cochrane Researchers concluded that more clinical trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of stem cell therapies for heart patients, as well as studies to establish how these treatments work. In a heart attack, blocked arteries can cut off the blood supply to areas of heart tissue. This leads to myocardial infarction - severe tissue damage caused by lack of oxygen, which is transported in the blood. 'We need more studies that look at the long term effects of these interventions, as well as at the types of cells that are used and how they actually repair the heart tissue,' says lead researcher Dr. Enca Martin-Rendon, who works in the Stem Cell Research Department, NHS Blood and Transplant, at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, UK."