Bone Stem Cells Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke in Healthy People

Stem cells - that’s what you should be watching out for to protect yourself against unexpected heart disease. Doctors and researchers have puzzled for years over heart problems in patients with seemingly healthy lifestyles. But now they seem to be closer to having cracked it, revealed a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, as reported by The New York Times.

Scientists conclude that accumulation of mutated stem cells in bone marrow leaves a person exposed to death from a heart attack or stroke. The risk is increased by 40-50 percent in less than a decade.

CHIP (short for Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential) will afflict about 20 percent people in their 60s and 50 percent people in their 80s, says NYT.