Imagine damaged hearts repairing themselves, even growing new blood vessels.
It sounds like science fiction, but as CBS 2 Medical Editor Mary Ann Childers reports, this new hope for hearts is being tested in a study underway in Chicago.
Last month, when 53-year-old Phil Stobbe had a heart attack, he thought he was history. Now, he hopes to make history.
“I said, ‘I’m going for it,’” Phil recalls.
Phil has volunteered for a procedure he hopes will reverse the damage to his heart and prevent or delay congestive heart failure down the road.
"This is the first human study of stem cells administered in this way,” said Rush University Medical Center Dr. Gary Schaer.
It’s called the Osiris trial.
Healthy stem cells from an adult donor’s bone marrow are given through an ordinary IV line.
Because they’re in an early stage of development, Phil’s body won’t reject them. They’ll be able to find their way to his heart.
"The hope is they can differentiate, or change into functional heart muscle, and repair and regenerate the heart tissue that’s been damaged by the heart attack,” Dr. Schaer said.
Under the FDA protocol, two-thirds of the patients will get stem cells. The rest will get a placebo of salt water. No one, not even the doctors, will know who got what until the trial ends.
But patients will be monitored constantly to make sure the procedure is safe. It will take at least a month for the stem cells to grow into functional heart muscle.
"If it works, it’s a huge new area, huge exciting new area for patients with heart disease, and maybe even for many other diseases as well,” Dr. Schaer said.
How does Phil like being on the cutting edge of stem cell research?
"Great,” he said. “It’s a good thing to help people."
Phil is the second patient to volunteer. The Osiris study, which runs for a year, plans to recruit 48 patients nationwide.
To find out more, contact Rush University at 888-352-7874 or visit the Osiris Web site. 
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