Faced with massive heart problems beyond conventional help American brothers John and Walter Homeier traveled to Bangkok to receive the very latest in adult stem cell therapy for the failing heart. Fourteen months later the older brother, John, is back doing what he used to do before his illness - playing golf, walking as far as he likes and working every day. Younger brother, Walter, just one month after his treatment is already doing well, reporting that his energy is improving day by day.



Adult stem cell therapy results for around 75 percent of patients both by self-report and by clinical evaluation are dramatic. Patients have more energy and are able to resume activities they thought they had lost forever. They feel less tired and experience far fewer symptoms such as angina. Their heart is able to pump more efficiently than before treatment. For John this has meant, I can do anything I want to do. Adult stem cells saved my life.

Since adult stem cell therapies are not yet approved in the U.S. the brothers had to gain acceptance by an accredited hospital that performs the operation, in their cases in Bangkok, Thailand. Top cardiologists assess the patient and then withdraw a small amount of blood from the arm which is immediately flown to a laboratory in Israel. In the laboratory the stem cells that can help the heart muscle and increase blood flow to the affected areas are isolated and multiplied by many millions. This harvested concentrate of stem cells is then flown back to the hospital where the stem cells are either injected directly into the heart muscle or introduced by catheter into the blocked area. These stem cells have demonstrated the ability to do what they are 'trained' to do, namely repair, strengthen and revascularize. Within a few months (often sooner) the vast majority of patients notice the benefits

Both brothers were aware before receiving treatment that because the blood that is used is their own there is absolutely no possibility of the body rejecting the implantation of stem cells. They were also encouraged by reading about and speaking with patients who had already benefited from adult stem cell therapy. Like many other seriously ill heart failure patients there comes a point when they are told that apart from a heart transplant there is nothing more that can be done for them. Rather than choose a hospice or a rocking chair while they await their inevitable fate an increasing number are choosing to undergo what is rapidly becoming established as a safe, helpful and minimally invasive procedure.

Medical tourism is a huge and rapidly growing industry in Thailand. The reasons for this growth and world-wide acceptance by patients seeking treatment in the kingdom lie in the facts that the hospital facilities and equipment are truly first class and the care and support of medical and nursing staff is second to none. Many of the specialists involved in the treatment of foreign patients have been trained or had extensive post-graduate experience in western countries. The Homeiers experienced exceptional care from the company and the hospital staff. They found their hotel accommodation surpassed their expectations. Furthermore, Thailand has long been recognized as a safe, beautiful, welcoming and enjoyable place for tourists generally, let alone those needing some rest and relaxation after hospital treatment. The brothers were able to take advantage of all that the kingdom offers.

John has already seen his Ejection Fraction (the measure of the heart's efficiency in pumping blood) rise from a mere 15 to 40. Small wonder that he feels so much better and is able to resume all the activities formerly denied him. The skeptics can say what they like but patient outcomes like those of the Homeiers are driving more and more end-stage heart patients to seek help. As more and more clinical trial results are published cardiologists will be suggesting to greater numbers of patients that adult stem cell therapy using their own blood is the preferred treatment option that can help them right now regain a quality of life they thought they had lost.