Question: why are some stem cells in danger of dying? and how do you save them from dying?

Michael Schneider answered on 10 Nov 2015:

In a “heart attack,” one of the blood vessels delivering oxygen and nutrients to the heart becomes blocked, at the site of fatty deposits (“atheroslerosis,” or “coronary artery disease”). The urgent treatment is to restore blood flow, with clot-busting drugs or a medical procedure to ream out the obstruction. Even if this is done quickly and correctly, some of the heart muscle will die. There are few consequences if that’s just 10%. But in a big heart attack 30% or 40% of the muscle cells die. So, one strategy we and others study is to develop drugs that protect the cells in different ways, such as protecting their mitochondria from failing, the cells’ energy factory.