New Delhi: Diabetes, a group of diseases that result in too much sugar in the blood, has been termed a 'silent killer' by doctors and medical professionals across the world.
Because the cells in your body can't turn the blood sugar into energy, the sugar builds up and can damage many parts of your body, such as your heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves. In the long term, diabetes can cause stroke, heart attack, or coma.
Unfortunately, diabetic heart disease or DHD is another major drawback of the disease. The higher a person's blood sugar level is, the higher his or her risk of DHD.
Diabetes affects heart disease risk in three major ways:
First, diabetes alone is a very serious risk factor for heart disease, just like smoking, high blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol.
Second, when combined with other risk factors, diabetes further raises the risk of heart disease.
Third, diabetes raises the risk of earlier and more severe heart problems.
However, renowned New Zealand-based researcher in cardiovascular diseases Dr Rajesh Katare suggested that stem cell therapy can help treat the disease.
He said that recent advancements in stem cells research have given hope for successfully treating DHD.
DHD affected the muscular tissues of the heart leading to complications and it had been demonstrated that resident stem cells of myocardium can be stimulated to repair and replace degenerated cardiac myocytes resulting in a novel therapeutic effect and ultimately cardiac regeneration, he said.
Katare, Director of Cardiovascular Research Division in the University of Otago, New Zealand, was delivering the keynote address at the continuing medical education programme on ?Role of Micro-RNAs and stem cells in cardiac regeneration in diabetic heart disease? at the Karaikal campus of premier health institute JIPMER.
Presenting clinical evidences, Katare said stem cell therapy certainly presented a new hope for successfully treating DHD.
Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education (JIPMER) Director Dr Subash Chandra Parija pointed out that it was the first such programme on the role of stem cells in cardiac regeneration in the whole of the country.
He said as diabetes was highly prevalent in the country, providing treatment for DHD had become a big challenge. Patients suffering from the condition have to undergo lifelong treatment and medications. "In this backdrop, advancements in stem cell therapy assume significance," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
