Rosalie Ungar is the author of IN A HEARTBEAT: The Ups & Downs of Life with Atrial Fib. This post was first published on August 27, 2017.
A few weeks ago an article on the front page of The Columbus Dispatch announced that a team of researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center had discovered a way of turning skin cells into any type of cell that the body may need. Though testing has only been completed on mice and pigs, growing new cells and inserting them into the wounded bodies of animals has produced healed limbs within 7 to 14 days.
The process has amazing potential from regenerating injured limbs to repairing the brain after a stroke (strokes can be caused by a-fib). Even healing a damaged heart will be possible. Imagine placing a square silicon chip the size of a fingernail on the skin as it receives genetic information, then zapping it with an energy source. Bingo! Within a given amount of time that limb or even tissue is healed.
Think of it from a military position. Soldiers could be healed on the battlefield.
Human testing is required before approval can be given by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration). Those trials are expected to take place within a year and the technology could be widely used within 5 years. This study has been published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
Researchers who created the technology say it could even be used as a weapon against neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Dr. Chandan Sen, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine & Cell-Based Therapies at OSU Wexner Medical Center says, “With this technology, we can convert skin cells into elements of any organ with just one touch.”
Damage to my heart from 2 heart attacks was reversed and healed. It took a much longer period of time. Read about it IN A HEARTBEAT: The Ups and Downs of Life with Atrial Fib, a patient’s story of surviving and thriving after 35 years of a-fib and related heart and health problems.
