Study Shows Rising Rate of Brain and Spinal Injuries in ATV Riders

Young Riders Have Highest Injury Rate—Helmets Could Reduce Risk

Newswise — Brain and spinal cord injuries related to all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) appear to be increasing, reports a study in the October issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy. Continue Reading »

Appeals court grants stay in stem cell case

The federal government will be allowed to keep funding stem cell research — for now.

An Aug. 23 ruling by a U.S. District Court judge barred federal funding of such research until an appeals court granted a stay Thursday that will allow the government to provide money until the case is heard before a federal appeals court, a process that could take several months.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth cited the Dickey-Webber amendment, a federal law that prohibits the use of federal funding for any research in which human embryos may be destroyed.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins said in a statement after the initial ruling that the freezing of federal funding greatly threatens current research. Continue Reading »

Effect on stem cell ruling on companies unclear

(Reuters) – Government officials say they will appeal a U.S. District Court injunction that stops new federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.

The ruling has no direct effect on researchers or companies working with private funds, but government funding often kick-starts the most basic, and risky biological work.

Scientists are working to use them to repair severed spinal cords, regenerate brain cells lost in Parkinson’s disease and restore the tissue destroyed by juvenile diabetes. Continue Reading »

Court Blocks New Federal Funding for Embryonic Stem Cell Research

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Obama administration Monday from using federal dollars to fund expanded human embryonic stem cell research, saying the research involves the destruction of embryos.

The ruling comes after the National Institutes of Health last year issued new guidelines permitting federal funding for research on certain stem cell lines that had already been created. Continue Reading »

Saudi court backing away from paralysis punishment

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia –A Saudi court is trying to persuade a man paralyzed in a fight to drop his demand to inflict a similar injury on his attacker by having his spinal cord surgically damaged, a judiciary spokesman said Monday. Continue Reading »

Spinal Cord Injuries Create Long Term Health Issues

Major accidents usually result in severe injuries sustained by one or more persons. Among these injuries, however, injuries to the spine is the worst to be suffered by those involved in the accident. Usually, this type of injury results to paraplegia, which is the inability to move the lower portion of the body, or quadriplegia, which is the total loss of movement in all parts of the body. While it is true there are some victims of spinal cord injury that seemed to recover after a year of rehabilitation, they are still susceptible to long-term health issues which may beleaguer them without end. Continue Reading »

Stunt goes wrong

Former Jesse White tumbler sues group after paralyzing injury

Jarvis Williams dashed forward in the red-and-white uniform familiar to anyone who’s seen the Jesse White tumblers defy gravity. Going last in a line of acrobats during the parade in Wheeling, he gathered speed, bounded off the trampoline and turned two-and-a-half somersaults.

Williams would say later he had done the same daring maneuver at least 50 times. The Fenger High School senior had learned to make the jaw-dropping stunts look routine, just as thousands of other youngsters had done as members of the famous team named after Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state. Continue Reading »

Automobile Accidents: The Leading Cause of Spinal Cord Injuries

The leading cause of spinal cord injuries are automobile accidents. The automobile accident rate has increased over the years, probably relating to the fact that there are more cars and more drivers than ever before. Injury accidents vary in severity; what body part is injured and how severe the collision will determine the impact on a victim’s life. Unfortunately, more than half of the people who have been seriously injured in an automobile accident are between the ages of 16 and 30; to lose body function at such a young age is more than catastrophic. Continue Reading »

Pursuing A Spinal Injury Claim

The emotional and psychological effects of a spinal injury can be devastating. Not only can it affect the loved ones around you, but it can also have far reaching consequences on other major areas of your life. In most cases, you will have to make huge financial adjustments depending on the extent of your injury. If you have been victim to a spinal injury at work, in a road traffic accident, or a fall, then you may be entitled to compensation. Continue Reading »

Paralysed teenager has ‘very good chance of recovery’

Aspiring model Vladislava Kravchenko has a very good chance of recovery form her paralysis, according to doctors in Moscow, where she has now begun stem cell treatment.

“It’s great, I’m really happy. They’re helping a lot of people here. I am filled with hope,” Ms Kravchenko said. Continue Reading »