Road to Recovery

One warm summer evening, Tamara Mena-Perez lay in her bed gazing at a row of medication bottles on her dresser.

She started getting angry. It had been nearly a year after the car accident that left her paralyzed below the waist, and she was supposed to be getting better, not swallowing all these pills.

As she stared at the bottles — emblazoned with “do not drink alcohol” warnings — she had a moment of clarity; she finally understood.

Mena-Perez, 21, had been asking “Why?” for so long. Why was her longtime boyfriend, Patrick Riner, a fellow Davis High School graduate, killed in the October 2005 car crash? Why was she spared? Continue Reading »

Promise Shown For Curing Injured Spinal Cord By Radiation Therapy Combined With Microsurgery

Research on rats with crushed spinal cords, similar to human injury, reveals that treatment soon after injury combining radiation therapy to destroy harmful cells and microsurgery to drain excess fluids significantly increases the body’s ability to repair the injured cord leading to permanent recovery from injury, according to the study published in the July 18 peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. Since repair of damaged cord directly correlates with prevention of paralysis, this research demonstrates that conventional clinical procedures hold promise for preventing paralysis from spinal cord injuries.

Currently there is no cure for human spinal cord injury. Treatment after injury is largely limited to steroids administered to prevent further deterioration. Continue Reading »

Paralyzed athletes pin hopes on UCI researcher

An Irvine professor studies stem cells to look for a treatment for spinal cord injuries.

The motorcycle roars to life.

From his wheelchair David Bailey watches it take off.

Someday, the motocross and Supercross legend thinks. Someday soon – maybe.

For years, the promise of even modest recovery from the type of chronic spinal cord injury that Bailey had two decades ago has been little more than a cruel mirage. Continue Reading »

Rider slowly recovering from injury; Mother ‘overwhelmed’ by community support during fundraiser

Nathalie Lawson is grateful to the more than 400 people who have provided her with a little peace of mind while she oversees her daughter’s recovery.

At least for a little while, Lawson will not have the financial stress of worrying how she’s going to afford to stay by her daughter’s side while she recovers from a spinal cord injury at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

Continue Reading »

Radiation therapy combined with microsurgery shows promise for curing injured spinal cord

Research on rats with crushed spinal cords, similar to human injury, reveals that treatment soon after injury combining radiation therapy to destroy harmful cells and microsurgery to drain excess fluids significantly increases the body’s ability to repair the injured cord leading to permanent recovery from injury, according to the study published in the July 18 peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE. Since repair of damaged cord directly correlates with prevention of paralysis, this research demonstrates that conventional clinical procedures hold promise for preventing paralysis from spinal cord injuries.

Currently there is no cure for human spinal cord injury. Treatment after injury is largely limited to steroids administered to prevent further deterioration. “This research opens the door to developing a clinical protocol for curing human spinal cord injuries using conventional therapies,” said lead researcher Nurit Kalderon, Ph.D. Conducted at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York City, the research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Continue Reading »

First steps on a long road

One evening this March, at a military hospital in northeast China, Paraplegic Jason McCue moved his legs.

It happened when the 31-year-old Calgarian was watching a movie with his girlfriend and her cousin, the three of them lying on two beds they had pushed together in his little hospital room.

The movement was just a slight shift, from left to right.

McCue, who hadn’t even felt a sensation in his legs since he broke his back in a mountain biking accident nearly three years earlier, concentrated. Continue Reading »

Blood clotting protein may inhibit spinal cord regeneration

Fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein found in circulating blood, has been found to inhibit the growth of Central Nervous System neuronal cells, a process that is necessary for the Regeneration of the spinal cord after traumatic injury. The findings by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, may explain why the human body is unable to repair itself after most spinal cord injuries.

The study, led by Katerina Akassoglou, Ph.D., assistant professor in UCSD’s Department of Pharmacology, is the first evidence that when blood leaks into the nervous system, the blood protein contributes to the neurons’ inability to repair themselves. The findings, which show the molecular link between vascular and neuronal damage during injury to the central nervous system, was published in the online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on July 2. Continue Reading »

Matt Courson .org

This site is designed primarily to allow family, friends, andsupporters of Matt Courson a means to keep up with his treatment andrecovery efforts from a level T8 Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) he sustainedfrom an ATV accident in the spring of 2006.

Local band jams for cause

Now that he has regained the gift of music, Ryan Nelson wants to use his talent to help others.

The 21-year-old Pilesgrove resident, who was paralyzed in a car accident three years ago, will be playing with his band Thursday at Rowan University for the Adam Taliaferro Foundation All Star Football Classic.

Proceeds will go toward athletes with spinal injuries. Continue Reading »

Viability Of Cord Blood In Treating Malignant Diseases

Having the capability of creating life-forming cells, cord blood has emerged as one of the most extraordinary discoveries in the past 2 decades. The process of cord blood banking is a highly specialized procedure that is taken up after the delivery of the placenta. Numerous positive outcomes have emerged in multiple cord blood cell transplants over the years and this is why medical practitioners are prioritizing the collection of these stem cells. Patients who are suffering from leukemia, liver disorders, heart attacks, some types of blindness, immune system disorders, diabetes, spinal cord damages etc, get relief from their severe conditions after cord blood cells are transplanted to them.

Cord Blood Vs Bone Marrow

Practitioners have made use of the umbilical cord blood collected in several life threatening diseases that had earlier treatment options like drugs and radiation treatments, often a combination of both. Continue Reading »