Cardiomyopathy is a term that means heart muscle disease. It is also a term describing a series of disorders causing primary heart muscle dysfunction in both men and women, often leading to heart failure or sudden death. It is estimated that dilated cardiomyopathy, the most common form of cardiomyopathy is responsible for 10,000 deaths each year.

Jason Ludwick aged 34, a native of West Bloomfield, Michigan, counts himself a lucky man. Born with an atrial septal defect, by the time he was 15 he had a pacemaker; by 21 he was diagnosed as having cardiomyopathy and by 25 he had a defibrillator in place and an ejection fraction of just 8-10 percent. Heart failure dominated

and restricted his life until he received adult stem cell therapy. Now he says that with training he could do a triathlon.

While his schoolmates ran and played sports, Jason s life was dominated by his illness and his failing heart ensured he did not run or play any contact sports. He was in and out of hospital and living on a cocktail of expensive drugs. His kidneys bled, his liver swelled, he suffered from asthma and he found it difficult to throw off a common cold. Despite all this, Jason tried to live as normally as possible although his heart was steadily failing.

His mother searched for help after he was removed from a heart transplant list. He was

then left only with medications, some of which had unpleasant side-effects and he felt constantly tired and depressed as he went back and forth to specialists having his medications reviewed. And then his mother found Theravitae, the Israeli-Thai researcher and developer of adult stem cell therapy, and Dr. Amit Patel from the University of Pittsburgh. After being examined by Dr. Patel, Jason s life was about to change.

Dr. Patel felt that adult stem cells could help Jason, so he flew to Bangkok where a small amount of his blood was withdrawn and the stem cells that could help his heart were harvested in a laboratory then injected directly into his heart muscle at Bangkok Heart Hospital. Just one month

later, Jason knew his life was going to change, My heart was beating better, more rhythmically, and I had more energy, he said. After six months I was up and flying, feeling 100 percent different. I could mow the lawns, take walks, ride a bike with my kids, lift weights do whatever I liked, he said. I m always on the go with our fifth child on the way and always busy as a full-time parent.

Jason has always enjoyed a huge level of support from his family and friends, but is very happy to spend time advising other cardiomyopathy sufferers of the power of positive thinking. Always try to

be positive, he counsels. There is hope. Take care of your diet and help get the word out that adult stem cell therapy is worth getting done. It s nothing like what you would have thought.
He loves helping Theravitae as a patient volunteer, talking to patients contemplating flying to Thailand for the help that is currently unavailable in the U.S.

Theravitae s patented adult stem cell therapy, VesCell, is proving a lifeline to all those heart patients who are sick of being sick, or who do not wish their lives to be characterized by restricted activity, low energy, pain, cost and brevity. The trend will continue to grow as more and more people become aware that they

cannot be harmed by a therapy that uses their own adult stem cells and that the procedures are straightforward, effective and performed in world-class hospitals by skilled, often eminent, heart specialists. Most encouraging clinical outcomes are being supported by research findings as well as by patient report. If Jason gets the time to train and does a triathlon, the world will sit up and take notice.

Jerry Steele is Patient Relations Manager of [http://www.theravitae.com ]Theravitae, a company that treats heart disease with adult stem cell therapy( [http://www.vescell.com ]Vescell ) The company also maintains a blog - [http://www.stem-cell-therapy.blogspot.com ]Stem Cell Therapy Blog