How do stem cells heal the heart?

I came across an interesting article on Science Blogs today:

"Cells were dying in the heart and there were simply not enough new cells to replace them," he says. "They were tired soldiers who could no longer work efficiently, and there were no new soldiers coming to take their place."

One of Dr. Amit Patel's theory of why stem cell therapy works is that the cells act as "beacons" to the body telling it to activate its own healing abilities.

Dr. Patel gave an interview to NPR in which he described his ideas on how stem cells work. You can listen to it here

Interesting stuff!!