Dr. Victoria Claydon

People with spinal cord injury often experience extremes in their blood pressure. Episodes of both very high and dangerously low blood pressures caused by damage to the spinal cord may be associated with a lack of control over blood flow in the brain. This can cause a range of other problems that are directly implicated in heart disease, which is the leading cause of death among people with spinal cord injuries.

In this study from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of B.C. & Yukon, Dr. Victoria Claydon will look at what happens to blood flow in the brain during episodes of extreme blood pressure in approximately 40 people with an injured spinal cord. Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON, DC – More than 600 veterans with disabilities have signed up to compete in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games taking place July 13-18, 2009, in Spokane, WA. Now in its 29th year, the event has grown to become the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world. This year’s competitors come from 42 states, Puerto Rico and Great Britain.

“The National Veterans Wheelchair Games are sports and rehabilitation at their best for our brave heroes,” said Randy L. Pleva, Sr., national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America. “From quad rugby to handcycling, power soccer to wheelchair slalom, the Games are an exciting combination of competition, camaraderie and courage.” Continue Reading »

WASHINGTON –The government issued final rules Monday expanding taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells, easing scientists’ fears that some of the oldest batches might not qualify and promising a master list of all that do.

President Barack Obama lifted previous restrictions on the field in March, but left it to the National Institutes of Health to decide just what stem cell research was ethically appropriate: Only science that uses cells culled from leftover fertility clinic embryos — ones that otherwise would be thrown away — the agency made clear in draft guidelines. Continue Reading »

With summer in full swing and many families headed to the pool and beach, we’re reminded that diving accidents are a common cause of spinal cord injuries. Males between the ages of 15 and 25 are the most common victims of diving injuries, 90 percent of which result in paralysis. Dr. Cristina Sadowsky of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute offers ways to prevent diving injuries with five things to keep in mind before you dive in and cool off this summer. Continue Reading »

Stem cell has been a boon to the modern medical research, and it has been creating success stories almost everyday. The research regarding stem cell therapy creates another success story again in treating spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injuries causes myelopathy or damage to white matter or myelinated fiber tracts that carry signals to and from the brain. It also damages gray matter in the central part of the spine, causing segmental losses of interneurons and motorneurons. Continue Reading »

New Delhi: A 10-year-old boy from a village in Uttar Pradesh has gained a new lease of life after the doctors at AIIMS operated upon him.

Premchand, a victim of a tractor-related accident had suffered massive injury to his spine. But a marathon 8-hour-lon operation by a team of doctors at AIIMS has ensured that he can look forward to life. Continue Reading »