Researchers Identify Genes That Foster Blood Cell Development From Stem Cells

For a child with leukemia or lymphoma, a donation of umbilical cord blood can be a lifesaver. But cords contain only a small amount of blood and may have so few hematopoietic stem cells–the cells that continuously produce red and white cells and platelets in our bloodstreams–that multiple donations are often needed for older children and adults. Now, University of Minnesota researchers have identified a group of genes that guide the functioning of hematopoietic stem cells, a finding that may help researchers grow enough of the cells in the laboratory to give doctors more options in treating patients. Continue Reading »

MacLaren’s ‘gift’: Persevering through paralysis

To bathe the inspirational Jim MacLaren entirely in sunlight would be to deny his journey out of the darkness.

If life was indeed fair to MacLaren, this Hollywood handsome Yale graduate, ex-defensive lineman and drama student, would have been sun-kissed literally on the silver screen, figuratively in Broadway lights. Continue Reading »

Crespi graduate overcomes injury through perseverance, exercise therapy

Mike McNamara’s light blue-green eyes fairly glisten as he talks about walking on the USC campus this fall as a college freshman. Only two-and-a-half years ago, the possibility of him walking anywhere was in serious jeopardy due to paralysis from a spinal cord injury sustained while playing basketball during a junior varsity game at Crespi High School.

Now, thanks to the unfailing support of family members, friends, doctors and an exercise physiologist, McNamara, 18, will walk across campus aided just by a leg brace. He is ecstatic about the opportunities awaiting him as a full tuition award recipient of USC’s Swim With Mike fund, a 25-year-old scholarship program for physically challenged athletes. Continue Reading »

Teens with spinal cord injuries

Seventeen-year-old Van Brooks felt somewhat out of place talking to adults with spinal cord injuries after his own paralyzing accident last fall. Sure, the older men and women gave him some good tips on how to adjust to being paralyzed from the waist down, but the young man wanted something different — a connection with a peer.

“It’s easier for me to talk to someone my age,” the Baltimore resident says. Continue Reading »

Clinical Studies Abroad: What Can We Learn?

Recently there has been news from various countries of the effects of transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) into people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Of note to the scientific community are anecdotal reports that people who have undergone these procedures have had improvements in sensory and Motor function within the first days after the procedures. While there is interest within the scientific community, these anecdotal reports are leading to more questions than scientific answers. Continue Reading »

Stem cell research activist, Dr. Wise Young, tackles current issues

DETROIT – (KRT) – Ten minutes after a recent announcement that South Korean scientists had discovered an efficient way to produce stem cells, the world’s largest spinal cord Web site carried the story.

“It’s unbelievable someone’s trolling the literature and posting it right away like that,” said Dr. Wise Young, administrator of www.sciwire.com. Continue Reading »

Pediatric center to offer novel rehabilitation approach for spinal cord injury

Kennedy Krieger Institute today opens the doors of its International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, the world’s first center focused on Rehabilitation and restoration for children with paralysis. The Center’s director, Dr. John McDonald, was the lead neurologist whose pioneering techniques helped the late actor Christopher Reeve to regain significant movement and sensation. The same novel therapies that produced remarkable results in Reeve will be applied to children at the new Center. Continue Reading »

We have to overcome this hope barrier

Ten minutes after a recent announcement that South Korean scientists had discovered an efficient way to produce stem cells, the world’s largest spinal cord Web site carried the story.

“It’s unbelievable someone’s trolling the literature and posting it right away like that,” said Dr. Wise Young, administrator of www.sciwire.com. Continue Reading »

Spinal cord unit provides support for whole family

HOWLAND — Patients touch balloons, pick up bean bags and tighten bolts in Forum Health Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital’s Occupational Therapy room.

They are part of a new program, the Spinal Cord Injury Center of Excellence, which opened May 12.

Rebecca LeBron, clinical supervisor of occupational and recreational therapy, said the hospital spent the past three years preparing to be a center of excellence. Continue Reading »

Fetal Cells Nix Rules, Fix Hearts

Ten heart failure patients who received controversial fetal stem cell injections are all showing signs of rapid recovery three months after the treatment, surgeons who performed the first-time procedure said this weekend.

The treatments, which took place in Ecuador, have raised sharp ethical questions over the mere use of fetal stem cells, which some oppose on principle. But the case has also raised new concerns over rushing forward with unproven stem cell treatments. Continue Reading »