Stem-Cell Breakthrough

It’s a chilling thought. In the coming year, 130,000 people worldwide will suffer spinal-cord injuries—in a car crash, perhaps, or a fall. More than 90 percent of them will endure at least partial paralysis. There is no cure. But after a decade of hype and controversy over research on embryonic stem cells—cells that could, among other things, potentially repair injured spinal cords—the world’s first clinical trial is about to begin. As early as this month, the first of 10 newly injured Americans, paralyzed from the waist down, will become participants in a study to assess the safety of a conservative, low-dose treatment. If all goes well, researchers will have taken a promising step toward a goal that once would have been considered a miracle—to help the lame walk.

The trial signals a new energy permeating the field of stem-cell research. Continue Reading »

Spinal Cord Injury Research Focus of Bryon Riesch Paralysis Foundation Grant

Support from the Bryon Riesch Paralysis Foundation will allow a Medical College of Wisconsin faculty member to research whether neurally modified cells derived from human bone marrow can be used to repair damage caused during spinal cord injury. If effective, this approach could someday be used to help paralysis patients regain movement.

Arshak A. Alexanian, Ph.D., V.M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery, is principal investigator for the one-year, $40,000 grant. He is studying the ability of cells that have been derived from human bone marrow and modified to behave as nerve cells to promote the functional recovery of injured spinal cords. His research is conducted at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. Continue Reading »

Spinal Cord Injuries – Is there Hope?

Turning tragic events into opportunities for others

There are many flashing lights in our lives – when we see “green” we speed right on through life not even aware of what the next day or move could bring. As we cruise through the green light not realizing that sometimes others who have the red light do not halt and come to a standstill – they are in a hurry to “beat” the light and then our lives collide.

There are flashing yellow lights which warn – and instruct – they mean “caution” or “look out” – proceed with care. And then that ever nuisance, the red light, which makes us have to stop dead in our tracks when we want to be moving forward. Continue Reading »

How you can help our most severely wounded warriors

Today’s Care. Tomorrow’s Cure.

Half of what we do here is about the care! And as many of you know, care costs a lot.

Our friends at the Wounded Warrior Project are asking Congress to pass legislation to establish a national program to train and provide ongoing supports and compensation to family caregivers of our most severely wounded warriors. Continue Reading »

Paralyzed with 7-14 Days to Decide on a Test

In January 2009, Geron, a biotechnology company located in Menlo Park, California, got FDA clearance to inject spinal cells derived from human embryonic stem cells into paralyzed patients.

This is the first time a stem cell based therapy will be assessed objectively — that is, as part of a clinical trial — in human beings. As early as this summer, eight to ten patients with spinal cord injury will be selected to participate. Continue Reading »

Think safety before diving in

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 »

Cord Blood Awareness Month- Understanding Still Low, Despite Medical Advancements

SAN BRUNO, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire/ — Despite rapid advances using a child’s own cord blood stem cells in regenerative therapies to repair damaged tissue due to injury or disease, most pregnant women today don’t learn about the ability to save their newborn’s cord blood. According to research published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, 3 out of every 4 pregnant women consider themselves only “minimally informed.”

July has been designated as “Cord Blood Awareness Month” by a society of the American Hospital Association Continue Reading »

Motivated Ms. Wheelchair hopes to inspire others

Cambridge, Ia. – Turn into their driveway, just past the alfalfa and hay field a mile south of this Story County town. Walk past her older brother’s muddy Ford F-150, up the accessible wooden ramp, and into the home where Angie Plager has lived for most of her 26 years.

“You mind if I sign a photo for you?” she says immediately, flashing her lively blue eyes as she whips out a photo and Sharpie.

Clearly, Angie is ready for visitors. She wears the same tiara and sash – emblazoned with “Ms. Wheelchair Iowa 2009″ – that she’ll wear at today’s “Day at the Races” event at the Iowa Speedway. Continue Reading »

Teacher starts foundation for spinal cord injuries

Three years after suffering a life-changing neck injury, Bret Neylon, a Brownsburg teacher and coach, is starting his own foundation to help others with spinal cord injuries.

He has applied for non-profit status for his charity, The Bret Neylon Paralysis Foundation, to help others who don’t have the support he had.

Neylon suffered his injury June 17, 2006, during a bicycle race in Wilmington, Ohio. Continue Reading »

Evaluating regional blood spinal cord barrier dysfunction following spinal cord injury using longitudinal dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI

In vivo preclinical imaging of spinal cord injury (SCI) in rodent models provides clinically relevant information in translational research. This paper uses multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate neurovascular pathology and changes in blood spinalcord barrier (BSCB) permeability following SCI in a mouse model of SCI. Continue Reading »