Bone-marrow stem cells may regenerate damaged heart tissue: studies.

(From Agence France Presse)

Two small studies have boosted confidence that stem cells derived from bone marrow, an uncontroversial source compared with embryo cells, can help repair cardiac tissues damaged by a heart attack.

The Lancet says doctors at the University of Rostock, eastern Germany, injected six heart-attack patients with these cells into damaged areas of the heart. All of the patients also had conventional bypass surgery.

Five of the patients had significantly improved blood flow to the heart, which suggests the stem cells may have regenerated cell growth, they believe.

A Hong Kong University team, meanwhile, used a catheter …