Sugar found in the shells of sea creatures could hold the key to a treatment for spinal injuries, giving hope to patients paralysed by disease or accidents.
The research is in the early stages and has so far been carried out on guinea pigs but the scientists are hopeful it may lead to treatments for humans. Photo: ALAMY
Researchers have found that by altering a sugar found in shells they were able to patch up damaged nerve cells in the spinal cord...
The damaged nervous system can make new circuits to bypass areas of damage: this is known as plasticity. In children the brain is still very plastic and malleable, and they can recover from quite severe brain damage. But in adults plasticity is almost lost, and recovery after stroke, spinal cord injury and other conditions is limited. PLASTICISE researchers have shown that reactivating plasticity in the brain and spinal cord is a powerful method of enhancing recovery after damage...
A study published by researchers from the Miller School's Department of Neurological Surgery and The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis offers evidence that the use of mild hypothermia is both a safe and potentially effective strategy in acute spinal cord injury.
More than two years ago, NFL player and former Miami Hurricane Kevin Everett suffered a spinal cord injury and many believed he would never walk again. Everett was given a hypothermic treatment, the introduction of a cold saline solution,,,
03 Apr 2010 - Although new developments in the management of spinal cord injuries (SCI) are on the horizon, any eventual cure for the condition is more likely to involve a multidisciplinary approach, drawing from expertise in several fields, according to a review article published in the April 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS)...
February 08, 2010: 12:00 PM E
Stem Cell Therapy International, Inc. (OTCBB: SCII) announced that Histostem Ltd. of South Korea ("Histostem") has participated in a study resulting in the successful treatment of spinal cord injury in dogs through the use of Multipotent Stem Cells (MSCs) derived from Human Umbilical Cord Blood (HUCB). The study, a collaborative effort between a team of doctors from the Departments of Veterinary Surgery and Veterinary Anatomy at Konkuk University,...
People who suffer traumatic injuries to their neck or spinal cord oftentimes remain paralyzed, unable to walk ever again. For these individuals, there may still be hope in alleviating their condition, if we are to trust a new study by researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet. In experiments they conducted on mice, the scien
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- For the first time in the United States, stem cells have been directly injected into the spinal cord of a patient, researchers announced Thursday.
Doctors injected stem cells from 8-week-old fetal tissue into the spine of a man in his early 60s who has advanced ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It was part of a clinical trial designed to determine whether it is safe to inject stem cells into the spinal cord and whether the cells themselves are safe.
ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that causes the deterioration of specific
Tommy Mead of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, used to run track and cross-country, play basketball, and play football. He was wrestling with a friend in 2007 when he was injured. Doctors discovered that Tommy had broken two vertebrae in his neck. A Web site dedicated to Tommy’s recovery from his spinal cord injury reported that the boy could not “feel or move anything below his chest,” after his injury.
Tommy has since regained movement...
TUESDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Transplanted neurons grown from embryonic stem cells were able to form proper brain connections in newborn mice, U.S. scientists report.
Researchers from Stanford Medical School say their study was the first to show that stem cells can be directed to become specific brain cells and to
Physical therapist Sandra Stevens first explored the use of underwater treadmills at Middle Tennessee State University with children suffering from cerebral palsy. She hypothesized that the underwater system might also have profound benefits for spinal cord injury patients struggling to relearn how to walk and move. Stevens noted dramatic improvement...