Another seven or eight months, and Mel would be dead. He was running out of time since he found no sympathy from congestive heart failure.
But then adult stem cells came into the picture, quite literally, as a potential life saving treatment. Mel’s son watched a program on The Discovery Channel about adult stem cells. They were injected to improve heart function and grow new muscle after being harvested from a person’s own blood.
The Bangkok Heart Hospital became the 72-year-old Mel’s destination of choice, since adult stem cell therapy is only in its infancy in the United States in terms of treatment and research.
Thailand became the country where Mel would receive his treatment.
“I feel 100 percent better,” Mel, a retired businessman in Naples, said. “I can walk around and do a lot of things without getting out of breath. Of course, there are a lot of skeptics in the medical field.”
Dr. Zannos, has become an advocate of the procedure; and for those who are skeptical that the procedure really had any effect, the Florida cardiologist is sponsoring a free seminar on adult stem cell therapy for heart failure.