Effectiveness of a Walking Program Modulating Cardioreparative Factors in Heart Failure

The incidence of heart failure grows as the population continues to age. Heart failure incidence approaches 10 per 1,000 persons after the age of 65. Although pharmacotherapy improves the treatment of heart failure it remains insufficient in preventing the progression of this debilitating disease. Cell based therapy has gained great strides over the last decade, launching cellular therapy into the mix of artillery for the treatment of chronic heart failure and coronary disease. While early pre-clinical work demonstrates that stem cell based therapy improves heart failure the exact mechanism in which these endothelial progenitor cells (EPC's) are recruited from the bone marrow, proliferate under the mediation of growth factors, and migrate to the injured tissues endogenously still remains obscured. Therefore in order for clinicians and scientist to impact heart failure treatment, a greater understanding of the physiological changes in EPC's and other modulators of cardioreparative process need further investigation.