American Heart Association's top 10 research advances for 2005 include cell recycling and hot and cold therapy for stroke

American Heart Association's top 10 research advances for 2005 include cell recycling and hot and cold therapy for stroke: "AHA News
12/21/2005
American Heart Association's top 10 research advances for 2005 include cell recycling and hot and cold therapy for stroke
American Heart Association 2005 year-end report:
DALLAS, Dec. 21 - Cell recycling - using a person's own bone marrow - to repair the heart; a gene that may make it possible to predict which patients may benefit from a particular therapy, and a drug that may help smokers reduce their cravings for nicotine, are among the American Heart Association's top 10 research advances in heart disease and stroke for 2005, said Robert Eckel, M.D., president of the American Heart Association.
Other major milestones include hot and cold therapy for stroke rehabilitation, and a study that extended the range of patients that might benefit from prophylactic implantable defibrillators.
The American Heart Association's Top 10 list was created in 1996. Each year's list highlights major gains in heart disease and stroke research.
This year's achievements include:
1. Cell recycling regenerates ailing hearts. Heart attack survivors infused with stem-like cells from their own bone marrow had nearly twice the improvement in their heart's pumping ability as patients given a placebo. Reporting on the 'Intracoronary Infusion of Bone Marrow-Derived Progenitor Cells in Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Multicenter Trial (REPAIR),' German researchers said the study is a landmark trial that demonstrates the potential of progenitor therapy for restoring heart function. A second study by another group of German researchers showed that implanting bone marrow cells into blood-starved legs can help people with peripheral "/.../