http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/521912/
<P>July 13, 2006 (Newswise.com) - More than 250,000 people in the U.S. are suffering from long-term spinal cord injuries, with more than 11,000 new occurrences taking place each year. One study appearing in the July 12th issue of the Journal of Neuroscience appears to be on the right track towards providing evidence that a combination of treatments could lead to regeneration of nerve endings in spinal cord injured patients. The result would be a return of functional activity.</P> <P>John Houle, Ph.D., is Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr. Houle, who is the senior communicating author in the co-authored study, has demonstrated in a lab animal how a nerve removed from the leg and transplanted across a spinal cord injury, in combination with enzyme digestion of scar material, leads to regeneration of injured nerve endings and recovery of arm movements.</P> <P> </P>