Heart stem cell patient dies three years after pioneering treatment

Ian Rosenberg, who was diagnosed with heart failure five years ago and given just two months to live before he opted for the therapy in Germany, passed away last Friday aged 70.

After discovering the treatment had improved his quality of life, he founded a charity to research the procedure in Britain and became determined to help others benefit from the technique.

His enthusiasm was at odds with warnings by scientists that patients could be turning to unproven and potentially dangerous stem cell treatments being offered overseas.

Growing numbers of people are paying thousands of pounds to foreign clinics in the hope of curing chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, but there is no published evidence to support claims that the therapy can successfully treat these illnesses.

However, Mr Rosenberg's widow, Jenifer, 61, of St John's Wood, Northwest London, said: 'Stem cell therapy transformed Ian's life.

'It gave him three years he would never otherwise have had.

'We are crying but we are also laughing because he was such a character and had such a zest for life.

'He broke every rule in the medical book and he has left a lasting legacy.'

The businessman, who leaves his children Nicholas and Claire from a previous marriage and two granddaughters, had a heart attack at the age of 39 but continued to work hard and travel the world.

He fell ill again in his fifties and had open heart surgery followed by a variety of other procedures, but the deterioration continued.

By 2003, his heart failure was severe and only seven per cent of his heart was functioning.

He was referred to a consultant cardiologist who had been investigating stem cell research and was later referred to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Hospital in Frankfurt, where a team was conducting human trials, taking adult stem cells from bone marrow in the hip and injecting them into the main artery of the heart.

Despite the fact it was not clear how the stem cells worked, Mr Rosenberg flew to Germany for two attempts at the treatment.

Within two weeks of the second treatment, he was planning a holiday and within a couple of months he was back on the golf course.

He set up the Heart Cells Foundation charity which has so far raised £2.25million to fund a four-year study into the treatment. A clinical trial has been underway since last autumn.

Consultant cardiologist Anthony Mathur, who is leading the cardiac stem cell trial at Barts and The London NHS Trust, said: 'Ian Rosenberg was a wonderful man.

'In spite of his own illness, he worked tirelessly to increase public awareness of stem cell therapy and to raise money for our ground-breaking research.

'Ian lived with the terrible symptoms of heart failure for many years and was in no doubt that stem cells improved his quality of life.'

Stem cell research is filled with controversy and few human trials have taken place to prove the clinical benefits.

Some scientists fear the treatment could have unwanted and potentially harmful side effects such as raising the risk of infection, immune problems and even cancer.

A letter warning about the dangers of the untested therapy was signed this week by 14 medical charities and research funders, including Professor Colin Blakemore, chairman of the UK Stem Cell Funders Forum and Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the MS Society.

One young woman, Amanda Bryson, 20, who underwent stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis yesterday condemned the treatment as a 'cruel and wicked scam'.

Within days of receiving the £12,500 therapy last November, Miss Bryson, from Inverness, was able to walk for the first time in years.

But her condition only improved for a brief period before she became confined to a wheelchair again, and she is demanding compensation from the Dutch clinic where she was treated, claiming that doctors falsely built up her hopes.