Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Disease Experts Launch Educational Resource for Cardiologists with Questions Answered by Dr. Howard Walpole

FREEPORT, The Bahamas (PRWEB) March 11, 2013

I believe we have created a much needed go-to resource that will be of great use to cardiologists and other healthcare providers, said Brian Jenkins, Executive Multimedia Editor of Elsevier Multimedia Publishing in New York, NY, which runs the site for the AJC. The stem cell resource center provides a wealth of information on a burgeoning area in cardiology. Readers will find multiple educational opportunities: a thought leader roundtable video that allows you to select questions and get answers on topics of greatest interest; open access article content; news feeds on stem cell therapy; and the ability to submit questions to a leading expert, Dr. Walpole.

The AJC wanted to do this resource center because cell therapy is an entirely new approach to treating serious cardiac diseases for which we have no good treatment in their advanced stages, said Vincent Friedewald, MD, FACC, an Associate Editor of the AJC, as well as Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, TX, and Adjunct Senior Research Professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, South Bend, IN.

The resource center plays an important role by being an easily accessible and comprehensive source of news, scientific papers, and presentations on advancement and innovation in cardiac stem cell therapy, said Feshbach. It facilitates physician education of the science and application of different forms of cardiac stem cell therapy in order to provide the most potential benefit to the greatest number of patients.

The majority of clinical cardiologists really dont know very much about the science of stem cell therapy because it has been embedded in the research literature and not the clinical literature, said Walpole. This is the first step in bringing the data from those research studies to the clinical arena. At this point, we believe that medicine is heading in this direction and the information should now be available. With heart disease holding such a huge position in the cost of healthcare and the severity of illness, finding new ways to mitigate patient symptoms and morbidities is an important focus for cardiologists.

ABOUT OKYANOS HEART INSTITUTE

Based in Freeport, The Bahamas, Okyanos Heart Institute adheres to U.S. surgical center standards and is led by Chief Medical Officer Howard T. Walpole Jr., MD, MBA, FACC, FACAI, and a leader of the American College of Cardiology for many years. The mission of Okyanos Heart Institute is to bring a new standard of care and a better quality of life to patients with chronic coronary artery disease using cardiac stem cell therapy. Okyanos Treatment utilizes cardiac stem cell therapy, a unique blend of stem and regenerative cells to support the growth of new blood vessels and to assist the heart in repairing tissue damaged by heart attack and disease. The Greek god of rivers, Okyanos symbolizes the primary mechanism of action that these adult stem cells have on ischemic (lack of blood flow) heart tissue, the result of the plaque deposits in the coronary arteries. The stem cells, derived from a persons adipose (fat) tissue, create new blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis. The treatment helps to facilitate blood flow in the heart and intake and use of oxygen, as measured by a rigorous clinical trial known as the PRECISE trial, as well as cardiac cell therapy trials at leading research institutions. For more information, log on to http://www.okyanos.com/.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY

The American Journal of Cardiology (http://www.ajconline.org), published by Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com), is one of the oldest and most prestigious general cardiology journals published in the world.

Read more:
Okyanos Heart Institute Sponsors Stem Cell Resource Center on The American Journal of Cardiology Website