What is Ischemic Heart Failure?
The body depends on the heart’s pumping action to deliver oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to the body’s cells. When the heart muscle cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs, this is called heart failure. This can cause troubling symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling in the legs and ankles and result in decreased physical activity.
When heart failure develops following evidence of a blocked blood vessel in the heart such as a heart attack, it is called ischemic heart failure, a serious and progressive condition that negatively impacts quality of life and survival.
Heart failure is quite common, affecting over 6 million Americans.
Current Treatment Options for Patients
Currently, there is no cure for heart failure. It is often managed using medications, healthy lifestyle changes, and medical device implants that help the heart pump more efficiently. Over time, heart failure leads to more complex therapies including an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) and heart transplantation.
More recently, cell therapy has emerged as a potential treatment option for ischemic heart failure.
Autologous Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell Therapy
Bone marrow is a unique substance found in the center of some of the larger bones in our bodies, such as the hipbones. Bone marrow is where new blood cells are produced. For years, doctors and researchers have been studying how bone marrow cells can help stimulate the body’s natural healing response.
Autologous bone marrow mononuclear cell therapy is the use of a patient’s own bone marrow cells as a treatment.
