CardioExchange Archive

July 3rd, 2014

Retraction Dissolves Credibility of Acid-Bath-Generated Stem Cells

Sadly, what seemed too good to be true now is: subjecting adult cells to an acid bath does not transform them into pluripotent stem cells, and the Nature papers reporting the effect have been retracted. After initial excitement over the findings in January, a number of laboratories reported having trouble duplicating the results. Then in April, […]

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May 8th, 2014

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: May 8th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include darapladib for preventing ischemic events in stable CHD, the DAMASCENE analysis, a review of John Brush’s new book, and more.

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April 29th, 2014

Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy: A House of Cards About to Fall?

Larry Husten, PHD

For more than a decade, cardiac stem cell therapy has attracted an enormous amount of attention, promise, and research dollars. Now an original and important new study published in BMJ finds that many of the most promising results in the field are illusory and that the potential benefits of stem cells to treat heart disease are probably […]

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May 31st, 2012

Reality Check: Stem Cell Science According To Perez Hilton

John Ryan, MD

Celebrity Blogger Perez Hilton recently ran a news story about stem cell research with the headline: “Scientists Convert Skin Cells Into Beating Heart Muscle!” According to the report, “the tissue could one day be used to treat” heart failure. Sites such as PerezHilton.com (which is among the top 150 most visited sites in the US), and Patientslikeme.com (with […]

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March 12th, 2012

Selections from Richard Lehman’s Weekly Review: Week of March 12th

Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP

This week’s topics include stem cells for the heart, BP in both arms and vascular disease, and how patients and caregivers interpret prognostic information.

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November 15th, 2011

Hype Aside, Hope for Stem Cell Therapy May Be Emerging from Hibernation

Larry Husten, PHD

Two small studies of cardiac stem cells for the treatment of heart failure have shown promise, but ABC News, CBS News, and other media outlets are throwing around words like “medical breakthrough” and “heart failure cure.” ABC News correspondent Richard Besser was so enthusiastic that anchor Diane Sawyer commented that she had never seen him “so excited.” […]

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April 3rd, 2011

From Far in the Future to the Here and Now: Reflections on the Translational Research Symposium and a Session on VADs

Justin M Vader, M.D.

Several Cardiology Fellows who are attending ACC.11 this week are blogging together on CardioExchange. The Fellows include Sandeep Mangalmurti, Hansie Mathelier, John Ryan (moderating and providing an outsider’s view from Chicago), Amit Shah, and Justin Vader. See the next post in this series, and check back often to learn about the biggest buzz in New Orleans. […]

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