Free Republic

Aldagen, a company focused on stem cell research, and the Texas Heart Institute are teaming up for a clinical trial in which humans will be tested for a potential treatment of limb ailments brought on by blood vessel problems. The treatment is based on the use of purified adult stem cells drawn from bone marrow. The Food and Drug Administration approved the launch of the Phase II trial earlier this year. The stem cells are prepared for use by Aldagen’s proprietary technology known as Aldesort. The National Institutes of Health has said stem cells have the "remarkable potential" to develop...

Blocked arteries are dangerous wherever they occur and if you get a blockage in your legs, the can cause such excruciating pain walking can be difficult. Now there's a new treatment that allows patients to grow new healthy blood vessels to improve circulation. What's hard work for most of us is the good life for Tom Reynolds. Life on the farm became difficult last year. Tom Reynolds, 77-Years-Old: "I would have a shooting pain that would hit me in, right in my buttocks." Tom had peripheral vascular disease, where the arteries supplying blood to his legs became blocked. Left untreated,...

Stem cell injections might someday be used to treat a debilitating cardiovascular condition called peripheral arterial disease (PAD), researchers say. People with PAD have poor blood circulation -- especially in the legs -- and can suffer sores, ulcers and even amputations. PAD is caused by a clogging and hardening of the arteries, and patients may need surgical procedures such as angioplasty or an artery bypass graft to widen narrowed blood vessels. However, as many as 12 percent of PAD patients can't have these surgical procedures. That's why researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis are investigating the...