MO BOOK 13- RC 121. Repairing broken hearts Flashcards
spinal cord
Heart disease may be treatable with stem cells. But a project to repair spinal cords is being shelved.
shelve /ʃelv/
Heart disease may be treatable with stem cells. But a project to repair spinal cords is being shelved.
mixed /mɪkst/
IT HAS been a mixed week for proponents of regenerative medicine.
proponent /prəˈpoʊnənt/
IT HAS been a mixed week for proponents of regenerative medicine.
regenerative medicine /rɪˈdʒenəˌreɪtɪv/
IT HAS been a mixed week for proponents of regenerative medicine.
spin off
A stem cell is one that, when it divides, spins off some offspring that remain as stem cells while others turn into functional tissue.
offspring /ˈɔfˌsprɪŋ/
A stem cell is one that, when it divides, spins off some offspring that remain as stem cells while others turn into functional tissue.
embryo /ˈembriˌoʊ/
Stem cells found in embryos can spin off a wide range of tissue types.
therapeutic /ˌθerəˈpjutɪk/
The bad news for those who have hopes of the field is that Geron, an American firm that was a pioneer of the therapeutic use of stem cells, is pulling out of the business.
pull out
The bad news for those who have hopes of the field is that Geron, an American firm that was a pioneer of the therapeutic use of stem cells, is pulling out of the business.
paralysed /ˈperəˌlaɪzd/
It is ending (or selling, if it can find a buyer) a project that was testing embryonic stem cells as a treatment for people paralysed by injuries to their spinal cords.
proposition /ˌprɑpəˈzɪʃ(ə)n/
At a time when it is hard to raise new capital, the firm has decided to concentrate on anticancer therapies that, it hopes, are nearer to being commercial propositions than the stem-cell study is.
lancet /ˈlænsət/
The good news for the field of stem-cell therapy comes from a paper published in this week’s Lancet by Roberto Bolli of the University of Louisville and his colleagues
cardiac /ˈkɑrdiˌæk/
They have used more specialised stem cells—ones that spin off only cardiac cells—to repair the hearts of people with heart failure.
routine /ˌruˈtin/
If their method can be made routine, it will bring enormous benefits.
coronary /ˈkɔrəˌneri/
Coronary heart disease is the world’s biggest killer. It ended 7.3m lives in 2008 (the most recent year for which figures are available).
transplant /ˈtrænsˌplænt/
A patient with heart failure (caused, for example, by a muscle-damaging heart attack) may benefit from a transplant, but there are not enough spare thumpers around for all those who need them.
thumper /ˈθʌmpər/
A patient with heart failure (caused, for example, by a muscle-damaging heart attack) may benefit from a transplant, but there are not enough spare thumpers around for all those who need them.
hence /hens/
Hence the idea of doing running repairs on a patient’s existing organ.
running repair
Hence the idea of doing running repairs on a patient’s existing organ.
still /stɪl/
Be not still, my beating heart
unfortunate /ʌnˈfɔrtʃənət/
The participants in Dr Bolli’s study were 23 unfortunates who had each had at least one heart attack in the past, and were thus lined up for coronary-bypass surgery, in which the furred-up blood supply to the heart is replaced with an alternative artery crafted from a blood vessel taken from elsewhere—usually the leg.
bypass /ˈbaɪˌpæs/
The participants in Dr Bolli’s study were 23 unfortunates who had each had at least one heart attack in the past, and were thus lined up for coronary-bypass surgery, in which the furred-up blood supply to the heart is replaced with an alternative artery crafted from a blood vessel taken from elsewhere—usually the leg.
fur up /fɜr/
The participants in Dr Bolli’s study were 23 unfortunates who had each had at least one heart attack in the past, and were thus lined up for coronary-bypass surgery, in which the furred-up blood supply to the heart is replaced with an alternative artery crafted from a blood vessel taken from elsewhere—usually the leg.
craft /kræft/
The participants in Dr Bolli’s study were 23 unfortunates who had each had at least one heart attack in the past, and were thus lined up for coronary-bypass surgery, in which the furred-up blood supply to the heart is replaced with an alternative artery crafted from a blood vessel taken from elsewhere—usually the leg.
on average /ˈæv(ə)rɪdʒ/
On average, these patients had hearts pumping out 30% of the optimal volume of blood.
optimal /ˈɑptɪm(ə)l/
On average, these patients had hearts pumping out 30% of the optimal volume of blood.
control group
Seven of the 23 acted as a control group, and received no intervention from Dr Bolli after the surgery.
breed /brid/
From the other 16, the researchers collected tissue samples during surgery. They broke these up, in order to extract cardiac stem cells from them (these cells can be identified by the presence on their surfaces of a particular protein), and then bred the stem cells in tissue cultures until they numbered millions.
culture /ˈkʌltʃər/
From the other 16, the researchers collected tissue samples during surgery. They broke these up, in order to extract cardiac stem cells from them (these cells can be identified by the presence on their surfaces of a particular protein), and then bred the stem cells in tissue cultures until they numbered millions.
number /ˈnʌmbər/
From the other 16, the researchers collected tissue samples during surgery. They broke these up, in order to extract cardiac stem cells from them (these cells can be identified by the presence on their surfaces of a particular protein), and then bred the stem cells in tissue cultures until they numbered millions.
stabilise /ˈsteɪb(ə)lˌaɪz/
About four months after each patient’s original operation, when their hearts had stabilised, Dr Bolli used a catheter to deliver 1m of the newly bred stem cells to their damaged heart muscle.
catheter /ˈkæθətər/
About four months after each patient’s original operation, when their hearts had stabilised, Dr Bolli used a catheter to deliver 1m of the newly bred stem cells to their damaged heart muscle.
infusion /ɪnˈfjuʒ(ə)n/
Four months after the infusion their hearts were pumping an average of 38.5% of the optimal volume, and this had risen to 42.5% a year after the transfusion.
transfusion /trænsˈfjuʒ(ə)n/
Four months after the infusion their hearts were pumping an average of 38.5% of the optimal volume, and this had risen to 42.5% a year after the transfusion.
feat /fit/
Just how the cardiac stem cells achieved this feat remains unclear.
inject /ɪnˈdʒekt/
It could be that the injected cells form new muscle themselves.
alternatively /ɔlˈtɜrnətɪvli/
Alternatively, chemicals they secrete may stimulate changes in cells already present in the heart—a suggestion encouraged by the work of Paul Riley at University College, London, who has (in mice) stimulated stem cells which were already present to turn into cardiac muscle by adding a protein called thymosin beta 4 that throws a crucial genetic switch in stem cells, and thus activates them.
secrete /sɪˈkrit/
Alternatively, chemicals they secrete may stimulate changes in cells already present in the heart—a suggestion encouraged by the work of Paul Riley at University College, London, who has (in mice) stimulated stem cells which were already present to turn into cardiac muscle by adding a protein called thymosin beta 4 that throws a crucial genetic switch in stem cells, and thus activates them.
thus /ðʌs/
Alternatively, chemicals they secrete may stimulate changes in cells already present in the heart—a suggestion encouraged by the work of Paul Riley at University College, London, who has (in mice) stimulated stem cells which were already present to turn into cardiac muscle by adding a protein called thymosin beta 4 that throws a crucial genetic switch in stem cells, and thus activates them.
