Researchers are testing an experimental drug for spinal cord injury on canine subjects. They have already found the drug to be beneficial in the treatment of mice with spinal cord injury. If the tests on dogs are successful, as researchers are optimistic they will be, the next step will be trials on human beings.

The experimental therapy is being studied by researchers from the University Of California San Francisco, and the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine. As California spinal cord injury lawyers know, not all of the damage caused after spinal cord injury is caused during impact. Some of the damage is caused after the injury, because of swelling, inflammation and chemical reactions close to the injury site, which add to the damage.

The new treatment aims to block some of those negative changes that occur after the injury. Specifically, the drug aims to block the function of the matrix metalloproteinase-9 protein, whose numbers begin to swell soon after a spinal cord injury. The drug does not actually help heal the spinal cord damage. What it does is to block the destructive process triggered by the protein soon after the injury, thereby limiting cell damage and limiting the extent of damage.

According to researchers, when the injured mice were treated with the drug, they showed remarkable recovery. The mice had been injected with the drug about 3 hours after the injury and continued to be administered the drug over 3 days.

Now, researchers will test the drug on dogs at the Small Animal Hospital of Texas A&M University. The studies are expected to continue over the next 2 years. If the drug proves to be as beneficial in reducing the signs of paralysis after a spinal cord injury in dogs as in mice, the researchers are likely to begin testing the drug on human bein

Persons, who have been paralyzed with a spinal cord injury, may have limited choices in transportation, and these are usually restricted to conversion vehicles. However, that will soon change. This week, Miami-based Vehicle Production Group rolled out its first wheelchair-accessible car that has been designed specifically for use by wheelchair users.

According to the company, this is the only car that has been designed to meet vehicle guidelines outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The car is priced at nearly $40,000, and comes with an inbuilt integrated ramp, in-step, and a larger door opening. Inside the car, there is space to accommodate four people in wheelchair, and four others. The features are practical and have been clearly designed for the convenience of those who use wheelchairs. The car comes with electronic stability control, antilock brakes and extra wheelchair-friendly features, like anti-slip floors.

According to the company, demand has been brisk. The company has 4000 standing orders for the car, currently available through more than 40 dealers. In the next few weeks, the number of dealers will increase to 80.

According to the U.S. Census, there are approximately 3 million Americans above 15 who currently use wheelchairs. With features like this, there's no need for a person to be lifted in and out of a vehicle. The vehicle offers a person extra mobility, convenience, and greater independence - all of which, as California spinal cord injury lawyers know, go a long way in boosting a patient’s self-esteem.

Persons who have suffered spinal cord injuries in auto and motorcycle accidents, workplace accidents, and slip and fall accidents often find that their inability to perform the most mundane tasks like driving themselves around, bother them the most. This vehicle might help alleviate some of that stress.

A group of researchers in Australia have found what they believe is a quick and safe method of treating spinal cord injury by using infrared light. If the treatment is successful, it would provide hope to millions of spinal cord injury sufferers in the US.

The treatment is actually a handheld device that emits infrared light of a specific wavelength. This infrared light then acts on the proteins that are found in the nerve cells in the damaged spinal cord injury site. According to assistant professor Lindy Fitzgerald of the University of Western Australia School of Biology, the light improves the actions of the proteins, and gives the cells more energy. That helps the cells function better, and this prevents the development of toxic free radicals.

Using infrared light seems to help control the growth of free radicals that can damage nerves. If the growth of these free radicals is not controlled, then it can lead to cell death in the damaged nerves. That can delay, or even obstruct recovery of the patient. With this infrared light-emitting device, doctors may be able to begin treating the site of the spinal cord injury as soon as the injury occurs. The device by itself, as news reports describe it, doesn't seem to be a complicated procedure. Preventing further deterioration of the cells could help in healing of the damaged nerves, thereby limiting the extent of the spinal cord injury.

According to estimates, approximately 2 million people in the United States live with a spinal cord injury. California spinal cord injury lawyers find that most of these injuries occur in auto and truck accidents. However, many are also caused by slip and fall accidents or because of spinal diseases that cause degeneration of the spinal cord.

After Menlo Park-based Geron Corporation, it's the turn of yet another California company to move forward with plans to conduct stem cell research into the treatment of spinal cord injury.

The company, StemCells Inc., has now filed for approval to conduct trials. The trials will involve the use of nerve stem cells in patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury. The main difference between these trials and the clinical trials that Geron Corporation has just begun, is that the StemCells Inc.’s trials will include spinal cord injuries that are up to one year old.  The clinical trials at Geron will only involve spinal cord injuries that are very new.

According to the researchers at StemCells Inc., there has been too much focus on treatment at the acute spinal cord injury phase. These new trials will focus on persons who have passed the acute injury phase, but still lack movement. According to the Palo Alto-based company, it has received approval from the relevant ethics committees. The trials are likely to be conducted in Switzerland.  The researchers say Switzerland provides a much more conducive environment for such trials because of the expertise of the investigators and the institutions there, as well as a well-developed network of patients and references.

Earlier this year, a study showed that mice with spinal cord injury which were treated with nerve stem cells were actually able to walk better than mice that were treated with human skin cells or a placebo. StemCells Inc. expects to enroll at least a dozen patients. Patients, whose injuries are about three months to 12 months old, can enlist for the trial.

In spite of a federal judge's ruling earlier this year blocking federal funding for embryonic stem cells research, private companies are going ahead with their research into stem cell therapy for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including spinal cord injury. No California spinal cord injury lawyer would deny that there is great momentum in research into spinal cord injury right now, raising hopes for a cure.

With no complete cure for brain or spine injury in sight, it is important to keep research efforts going, and focused on the possibilities of stem cell therapy in brain injury treatment.  Last week, researchers at the University of California Irvine received $9.35 million in grants to develop treatments using stem cell therapy. 

The grants came from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and will be used to study the effectiveness of stem cell therapy in treating eye diseases, Huntington's disease and traumatic brain injury.  So far, UC Irvine has received more than $71 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Researchers at UCI will use their share of the funds, amounting to $1.7 million, to study stem cell therapy to treat traumatic brain injury.  They're hoping that the stem cells lines that they develop may also one day prove effective in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and spinal cord injury. 

A big portion of the research will be on the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease that can result in blindness.  This research will be funded by $3.85 million dollars from the grant.  According to the researchers, they have had success in animal testing, and hope to move closer to human clinical trials.  The rest of the funds will be used to develop stem cell therapies to treat Huntington's disease.

Over the past year, there have been dramatic breakthroughs in embryonic stem cell therapies, especially in the treatment of eye injuries.  A California-based company has already begun the world's first human clinical trials in the treatment of spinal cord injuries using embryonic stem cells.  There is great activity in this area, and California brain injury lawyers would support any efforts to keep the momentum going.

A patient with a spinal cord injury has become the first person to receive an experimental stem cell treatment that holds great promise for California spine injury lawyers.

California-based Geron Corporation announced this week that a patient who suffers from a spinal cord injury has received human embryonic stem cell therapy at an Atlanta center.  Geron Corporation is the only company in the country with approval by the Food and Drug Administration to conduct such clinical human embryonic stem cell therapies.  Geron Corporation's research into stem cell therapy is funded by private groups, which means that the company is not hindered by a recent ruling by a federal judge prohibiting the use of federal funds for human embryonic stem cell therapy research.  That ruling had severely disappointed California brain injury lawyers and researchers who had pinned much hope on such clinical trials.  But the federal ruling will not apply to the Geron trial. 

For now, this is a phase 1 trial, which means that researchers will not be looking so much at the benefits of the therapy, as much as at whether the therapy is safe to use.  The patient who is now being treated with the therapy has been admitted into Shepherd Center, which is a brain injury and spinal cord injury treatment facility in Atlanta.  The Atlanta site is one of seven potential facilities across the country where patients may be enrolled during the clinical trial. 

According to Geron, it has spent more than $130 million in developing stem cell therapies for the treatment of spinal cord injury.  Simply put, the therapy involves injecting stem cells, which have been coaxed into becoming nerve cells, directly into the injured spinal cord.  The stem cells used in the therapy are leftovers from fertility treatments.  Doctors are hoping that the stem cells will allow the nerves in the damaged spinal cord area to regenerate, ultimately to allow the patient to restore movement of injured legs and arms.

 

 

A study published in the October issue of Neurosurgery shows that there has been a spike in the number of brain and spinal cord injuries resulting from ATV accidents. 

Researchers analyzed trends in ATV-related injuries in Utah between 2001 and 2005.  They found that approximately 1,500 ATV users had been injured in accidents during that period.  Approximately 50% of these persons suffered brain injuries, spinal cord injuries or both.  During each year, the researchers found there was actually a spike in the number of ATV-related head and spinal cord injuries.  Overall, between 2001 and 2005, the researchers found a 50% increase in the total number of these serious injuries.

Out of these patients, 500 suffered injuries that were serious enough to require hospitalization.  More than 50% of the patients required intensive care, and the average period of time spent in the hospital was four days.  Besides spinal cord injuries and brain injuries, the persons suffered skull injuries, facial lacerations and facial fractures.  Four patients died before they arrived at the hospital, and 15 died in the hospital.  At least 100 patients suffered a long-term impact from these injuries.  They were discharged to home health care, a rehabilitation facility or nursing home.

Most ATV-related accidents involved a vehicle rollover, which accounted for approximately 30% of injuries.  Persons below the age of 20 accounted for a high share of all ATV-related brain and spinal cord injuries.  Most injuries involved the use of a recreational ATV.  Very few injuries occurred on farms and other occupational facilities where ATVs are commonly used.

Not surprisingly to California brain and spine injury attorneys, the incidence of injury was higher for persons who were not wearing helmets while riding an ATV.  Very few cases involved the use of alcohol or drugs, although this could be due to the lack of proper recordkeeping of alcohol use as a factor in ATV-accidents.  Overall, ATV users who suffered brain and spinal cord injuries from these accidents ended up with huge medical and hospitalization expenses.

A California-based company has received the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration for embryonic stem cell clinical trials to treat spinal cord injury and other conditions.  The company, Menlo Park-based Geron Corporation, has announced in a press release that the FDA has lifted its hold on the company's clinical trials.  The agency has given its approval for the Phase 1 clinical trial of GRNOPC1, in patients who suffer from severe spinal cord injury, to proceed.  This is the world's first clinical trial of human embryonic stem cell-based therapy for treatment of spinal cord injury.

The therapy centers on injecting embryonic stem cells into the spines of those suffering from the injury.  Researchers and California spinal cord injury lawyers hope that the embryonic stem cells will trigger the growth of damaged nerve cells, and will ultimately lead to the patient regaining movement and sensation in the affected area.  The study had been placed on hold by the FDA last year after some of the animals in the study developed cysts.  President Obama had given the go-ahead for the embryonic stem cell clinical trials last year, but Geron had been waiting for the FDA to lift its hold on the clinical trial. 

If the clinical trials are successful, it would mean a revolutionary development for the thousands of spinal cord injury patients not just in the US, but across the world.  In the US alone, there are approximately 2 million people living with some degree of spinal cord injury.  These people would have new hope if the clinical trials are successful. 

Much of that hope comes from the fact that embryonic stem cells are very versatile, and have the ability to turn into any kind of cells.  Researchers are hoping that this quality of embryonic stem cells will lead to the generation of new cells in the spine area, thereby helping the patient regain movement.  It's not just patients with spinal cord injury who might benefit if the clinical trials are successful.  Patients with Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis could also benefit from the therapy.

It’s being hailed as a groundbreaking discovery by scientists who revealed this new possible spinal cord injury treatment at the World Congress for Hair Research in Australia. The scientists believe that mice hair could be a possible new source of healthy stem cells which can help repair damaged cells in patients who suffer from spinal injury.

The discovery of the cells occurred by chance. Scientists at the research lab AntiCancer, in San Diego, were examining the skin of mice and found that the cells in these mice hairs could heal spinal cord injury in mice. Mice with spinal cord injuries that left them paralyzed were able to walk again after being treated with these healthy stem cells from their hair. The scientists placed the hair stem cells into the damaged nerve of the mouse, and found that the nerve soon rejoined. Very soon, the nerve was functioning almost normally again. The scientists backed up their theories with solid proof at the conference. A video was shown of a mouse with a severed spinal cord, which soon began scurrying about after being treated with the hair stem cells.

Spinal cord injury treatment research is an ongoing process and, to California spinal cord injury lawyers, it often seems like there are supposed “breakthroughs” that ultimately lead nowhere. However, this particular breakthrough could be different. The scientists have found that similar stem cells are also found in the hair of humans, suggesting a high likelihood that the treatment could work in humans too.

Obviously, transferring these benefits to human beings is not going to be simple. However, the fact that such dramatic improvements have been seen in mice, and that the cells are found in human beings, is definitely encouraging. It will be a while before California spinal cord injury attorneys and patients with spinal injuries learn if these treatments can be successfully replicated in human beings too.

It is estimated that 10 to 12 thousand people suffer some form of spinal cord injury every year in the USA. Approximately 250,000 Americans — that is to say, a quarter of a million Americans — are living with the long-term consequences of spinal injury, which can include chronic pain; secondary effects such as blood clots, infections, and breathing difficulties; even paralysis. That's more than 30 people a day who suffer an injury that could potentially leave them paralyzed in some way. Sadly, many injury victims aren't experts on the injuries they sustain and don't enlist an advocate who might secure them the best care.

Nearly 40% of spinal injuries are caused by car accidents, while about 25% result from violent encounters such as fights. The rest are caused by injuries occurring in the workplace or in sporting accidents. Many athletes at the peak of their careers retire early due to some form of spinal damage or the fear of such. In fact, the majority of spinal injury victims are men between the ages of 16 and 30.

These are unsettling statistics, implying that quite a few people are being injured right in the prime of their lives. Spinal injuries can rack up massive medical bills for victims, and that's in addition to the difficulties of chronic pain and the efforts involving therapy and total recovery. Plus, the suffering usually expands beyond the immediate victim, causing hardship and heartache for their families and friends as well.

That said, medicine's growing experience with, and knowledge of, spinal injury is offering new hope. Christopher Reeve remains one of the prominent examples of how far someone can come with proper attention after such an injury. Before his unfortunate death, the final result of being thrown from a horse which left him a quadriplegic, Reeve was reporting that he was regaining some sense of feeling and limited movement in his legs again. Doctors have found that specialized steroid medications can limit the severity of nerve damage and preserve movement abilities if applied soon enough after injury.

The Reeve case is but a small window to a possible future where spinal injuries are treated more quickly and effectively, and long-term injury is minimized. Victim advocates will likely play a large role in this in the form of experts who understand the law and how to use it to assist injury sufferers in getting the best treatment possible rather than the treatment someone else decides to give them. Victim advocacy will play an ever-increasing part in ensuring proper health care is administered as science progresses and there are more options to fight for.