Heart: Existing or Potential Regenerative Medicine Strategies

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) and the sequelae that result from the death of myocardial tissue are universal concerns as IHD continues being one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The potential to regenerate heart tissue is an exciting topic in research, and success in this endeavor would lead to a significant decrease in disease burden and associated co-morbidities.

For a long time it was believed that the number of cardiomyocytes you are born with stays relatively constant throughout your life; injury and stress on the heart can lead to increase in the size of the cell or death. Recent studies show that the heart may have the potential to increase the number of myocytes. This renewal of cardiomyocytes is not significant enough to ...