BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. - Could the future of medicine be in your own blood? That's the concept behind a cutting edge therapy being offered in Bonita Springs. Patients, many who faced a bleak future, say it's changed their lives.

One year ago, Richard Rzaca was struggling just to do everyday tasks. He has had a near fatal heart attack and underwent 4 bypasses. Despite medications, his heart was getting weaker by the day.

"I was looking for help, and the good Lord sent me up here to see Doctor Grekos, and it was the best move I ever made in my life," said Rzaca.

A similar story for heart attack survivor Peter Holler, who underwent a quadruple bypass.

"The front part of my heart was dead from the original heart attack." Holler explained.

Cardiologist Dr. Zannos Grekos told his patients about a cutting edge treatment that could repair heart damage using their own stem cells.

"Stem cells are the cells that our own bodies have that naturally repair damaged tissue," explained Dr. Grekos.

Adult stem cell treatment has been used successfully in other countries for years, but it has not yet been approved by the FDA to be done in the United States. While American studies are underway, Dr. Grekos is the only doctor in North America offering the procedure to the general public.

"We improve their quality of life, we've reduced mortality," Dr. Grekos explained.

Here's how it works. About a cup of blood is drawn from a patient in Bonita Springs. That blood is sent to Israel, where stem cells particular to the cardiovascular system are extracted and multiplied.

Meanwhile, the patient flies to the Dominican Republic, and checks in to a new, state-of-the-art hospital. His cultivated stem cells are then injected into the heart through a catheter placed in an artery at the top of the leg, done under local anesthetic.

The patient is back on his feet in a few hours, able to fly home the next day.

"We don't have any rejection, we don't have any disease, we have never seen an infection," said Dr. Grekos.

The down side? The price tag. A cardiac procedure is not covered by insurance, and costs $55,000.

"Its the best money I ever spent." Said Richard Rzaca.

"No matter what the price is, you can't buy it," Said Peter Holler. "I call him the miracle worker."

Before the stem cells, Rzaca's heart was pumping at 25%. A few months later, it's at 73%.

The portion of Holler's heart that had been dead, started pumping again after his stem cell treatment.

"In the big picture it's a very low risk procedure with a very high upside on the benefits one can gain," explained Dr. Grekos. "Using adult stem cells is going to be the way that future physicians and maybe current physicians will be treating disease."

WINK News contacted several cardiologists in Southwest Florida, but they declined our request to comment on camera about the stem cell process. However, like any medical procedure, patients are urged to explore all options and get several opinions before undergoing treatment.

For more information, log onto www.regenocyte.com
or call (866) 216-5710