Speeding ticket fees go to brain, spinal cord study

INDIANAPOLIS – You got caught speeding and now must pay the price.

In addition to a basic fine, Hoosiers must cough up $70 in court costs. Then a $2 jury fee. And a $7 record-keeping fee. And $3 for public defenders. A $2 DNA sample processing fee. Then a $16 judicial salaries fee.

By the time everything is added up, average motorists are paying nearly $110 in court costs and fees for any basic traffic infraction. Continue Reading »

SYDNEY, Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Advanced Medical Institute Inc. (AVMD.PK or AMI), a leading provider of treatment for Erectile Dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation in Australasia, announces a new not for profit division — Rocket Launch (www.rocketlaunch.com.au) — which specialises in providing Erectile Dysfunction advice and treatment programs to men who have sustained a spinal cord injury.

Rocket Launch’s trial group of 60 patients delivered a remarkable 100% success rate with all patients capable of gaining and maintaining an erection. With the huge success of their trial, Rocket Launch now plans to reach out to the more than 6,000 men in Australia who have sustained a spinal cord injury. Continue Reading »

BOSTON, Mass. – March 09, 2007 – A soldier who was discharged from the West Roxbury VA hospital before Thanksgiving is still waiting for the Army to discharge him. Sergeant Chase Gean needs those papers to start collecting his disabled veterans’ benefits and continue his rehabilitation.

The holdup is at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where doctors make decisions about whether soldiers should be discharged. WBUR’s Fred Thys interviewed Gean just before he was released from West Roxbury VA last November, and now has the story of what’s happened to him in the months since. Continue Reading »

We’ve written before about Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems’ BrainGate, a brain-implant device designed to control a computer, assistive devices and eventually, limb movement. The company’s focus is neural stimulation, sensing and processing technology to improve the lives of those with severe paralysis resulting from spinal cord injuries, neurological disorders and other conditions of the nervous system. Cyberkinetics’ product development pipeline includes:

Andara OFS (Oscillating Field Stimulator) Therapy for acute spinal cord injury, an investigative device designed to stimulate nerve repair and restore sensation and Motor function; the; and a pilot program in the detection and prediction of seizures due to Epilepsy. Continue Reading »

A fundraiser to help offset costs of medical care for a South African woman recovering from a spinal cord injury will be held Friday, March 9, at the Hillcrest Country Club in Lower Burrell.

Douwne Muller, 19, of Cape Town, Republic of South Africa, suffered a spinal cord injury while on vacation with her family in March 2005. The injury caused a multitude of medical problems, forcing Muller to be dependent upon her parents and caregivers.

“Douwne has quadrapalegia and that won’t change,” Susan Kreinbrook, Muller’s Physical Therapist for her outpatient sessions, says. “We are aiming to educate her and her family members so that she can rely more on her self and her individual progress.” Continue Reading »

Scientists are preparing for a large clinical trial in 2008 which aims to use stem cells to help 400 patients with spinal cord injuries in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan grow new cells and nerve fibers.

Stem cells from umbilical cord blood will be injected into the spinal cords of the participants, who will also be given lithium to help stimulate cell Regeneration, said Wise Young, a leading neuroscientist and spinal cord injury researcher. Continue Reading »

Every year around 25 million children are born in India, almost one every second! Result: a bursting population. But this is not a story of India’s teeming millions or what should be done to control this boom.

It is a story of India first public stem cell bank. And what is a stem cell? And what has it got to do with newborn babies? Read on to find out. Continue Reading »

70% of spinal cord injuries in children result from Motor vehicles, most without seatbelts

March 8, 2007 – When today’s senior citizens were kids, there was no such thing as a car seatbelt. Everyone piled into the car, or maybe even the back of a pickup, and took off. Although senior drivers have had to adjust to these new fangled safety devices, they need to be aware of the danger to their grandchildren, if not buckled in. About 1,500 spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are sustained by children age 18 and younger every year, approximately 70 percent are a result of a motor vehicle accident. Continue Reading »

Tim Reynolds is not just any ordinary guy. He has it all — a wife and three children, a house overlooking the Navesink River, and he works for a trading firm.

But Reynolds also suffers from a spinal cord injury. Six years ago, he was in an automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. His life was spared on Dec. 14, 2000, after emergency surgery at the University Hospital in Newark, but his crushed spinal cord was beyond repair.

Reynolds spent three months in the hospital, he said: a few weeks at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the remaining months at Kessler Hospital in West Orange. His doctor at Kessler was Barbara Benevento. Continue Reading »

Bill Bowen of Rockwood, Tenn., is a natural at giving. For years, he worked at a tree service company, providing for his growing family … until a tree fell on him, leaving him with a severe spinal cord injury. Even though the accident paralyzed his body, it didn’t affect his giving spirit. He quickly took on the role of Mr. Mom to his young children, while his wife, Kristi, worked at a local hospital.

Despite setbacks in life, Bowen still gives his all to his family and to perfect strangers—fellow outdoorsmen with disabilities. Continue Reading »