HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 28 (acn) Cuba has extended the therapeutic use of stem cells to several of its provinces after 511 patients have been successfully treated since 2004.

Nearly 80% of the cases treated with the implant of adult stem cells coincide with people suffering from acute ischemia in the lower limbs and also in cases of so-called diabetic foot.

According to Porfirio Hernandez Ramirez, Deputy Director of Research at the Institute of Immunology and Haematology in Havana, with the use of this treatment, in most of the cases surgery was not necessary, ulcers cicatrized and the patients’ health improved.

He added that Cuban medical and scientific institutions are working together to use the so-called regenerative medicine in muscle and neurological pathologies, bone problems, diabetes and in the recovery of vital organs with functional failures.

Stem cells have the ability to regenerate tissue damaged by diseases, traumas or aging. They stimulate the growth of blood vessels and can be obtained from the bone marrow, the umbilical cord, the brain, the lungs, etc.

From the Cuban News Agency