Spinal Cord Injury News and Research

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A spinal cord injury usually begins with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. The damage begins at the moment of injury when displaced bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments bruise or tear into spinal cord tissue. Most injuries to the spinal cord don't completely sever it. Instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy the axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry signals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. An injury to the spinal cord can damage a few, many, or almost all of these axons. Some injuries will allow almost complete recovery. Others will result in complete paralysis.

Gene therapy to promote remyelination in mouse model of MS

Our bodies are full of tiny superheroes-antibodies that fight foreign invaders, cells that regenerate, and structures that ensure our systems run smoothly. One such structure is myelin-a material that forms a protective, insulating cape around the axons of our nerve cells so that they can send signals quickly and efficiently. But myelin, and the specialized cells called oligodendrocytes that make it, become damaged in demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), leaving neurons without their myelin sheaths.

10 Feb 2012

Single fibronectin injection can prevent chronic pain development after SCI

Chronic neuropathic pain following a spinal cord injury is common and very difficult to treat, but a new therapeutic strategy requiring a one-time injection into the spinal column has potential to improve patient outcomes.

9 Feb 2012

Conventional method has minimal role in determination of PJI

In their search for new, better ways to diagnose periprosthetic joint infection, Rothman Institute at Jefferson researchers have discovered that measurement of C-reactive protein in the synovial fluid is extremely accurate, while measuring a patients- serum white blood cell count (WBC) and the percentage of neutrophils (PMN%), the conventional method for diagnosis, has a minimal role in the determination of PJI.

9 Feb 2012

Patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis do not benefit from epidural steroid injections

Researchers at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson examined data on patients being treated for lumbar stenosis and the degenerative spine condition spondylolisthesis and found that patients who received epidural steroid injections (ESI) had a higher rate of crossover to surgery and fared worse in physical health and bodily pain versus those who did not receive ESI, dispelling their pre-study hypothesis.

8 Feb 2012

LE strips can have a role in rapid diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection

Rothman Institute at Jefferson joint researchers continue to seek better ways to diagnose and subsequently treat periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in patients following total joint arthroplasty. Their latest research shows leukocyte esterase reagent (LE) strips, common in diagnosing urinary tract infections, can also have a role in rapid diagnosis of PJI.

7 Feb 2012

LE strips can rapidly diagnose periprosthetic joint infection

7 Feb 2012

Preliminary results from Remedy Pharmaceuticals' RP-1127 Phase 2 trial on stroke

Each year, over 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke. For most, medical science can do very little. Some will die; a number will suffer debilitating aftereffects. Now, preliminary results of a Phase 2 clinical trial using Remedy Pharmaceuticals' new drug, RP-1127, presented at the 2012 International Stroke Conference in New Orleans on February 2, offer hope to many of these patients.

6 Feb 2012

Watson, Acorda partner to introduce tizanidine hydrochloride capsules

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the Company has partnered with Watson Pharma, Inc., a subsidiary of Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to introduce tizanidine hydrochloride capsules, an authorized generic version of ZANAFLEX CAPSULES (tizanidine hydrochloride).

6 Feb 2012

Neuralstem announces registered direct placement of 5,200,000 shares of common stock

Neuralstem, Inc. announced today that it has entered into agreements with certain institutional and accredited investors for a registered direct placement of 5,200,000 shares of common stock at a price of $1.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $5,200,000.

6 Feb 2012

The Methodist Hospital now offers advanced rehabilitation system for treatment of foot drop

The Methodist Hospital Outpatient Rehabilitation Center now offers an advanced rehabilitation system for the treatment of foot drop in people with mobility issues caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury.

2 Feb 2012

Rensselaer professor wins CAREER Award from NSF

Ryan Gilbert, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has won a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

1 Feb 2012

Scientists discover unexpected way in which a neutrophil prepares for battle

UCSF scientists have discovered the unexpected way in which a key cell of the immune system prepares for battle. The finding, they said, offers insight into the processes that take place within these cells and could lead to strategies for treating conditions from spinal cord injury to cancer.

20 Jan 2012

Integrative medicine now available for pediatric patients at JMBCIM

Integrative medicine, the field of medicine which combines the use of conventional and complementary techniques in reaching health and wellness goals, is now available for pediatric patients through the Integrative Pediatrics program at the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine.

19 Jan 2012

Dogs with spinal cord injuries may soon benefit from experimental drug

Dogs with spinal cord injuries may soon benefit from an experimental drug being tested by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences — work that they hope will one day help people with similar injuries.

19 Jan 2012

Converted umbilical cord stem cells hold hope for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis

For the first time ever, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases.

18 Jan 2012

New motion capture technology offers fresh insights into tennis injuries

A new approach to motion capture technology is offering fresh insights into tennis injuries - and orthopedic injuries in general.

18 Jan 2012

Geisinger, InVivo to conduct injectable biocompatible hydrogel preclinical study for PNI

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), and Geisinger Health System today announced a research collaboration to conduct a preclinical study using InVivo's injectable biocompatible hydrogel for the treatment of chronic pain caused by peripheral nerve compression.

17 Jan 2012

Stem cell transplantation prevents further traumatic axonal injury

For years, researchers seeking new therapies for traumatic brain injury have been tantalized by the results of animal experiments with stem cells. In numerous studies, stem cell implantation has substantially improved brain function in experimental animals with brain trauma. But just how these improvements occur has remained a mystery.

13 Jan 2012

Virtual reality technology will advance rehabilitation research for cognitive and physical disabilities

Kessler Foundation and the University of Southern California (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies will collaborate on clinical research projects applying virtual reality technology to cognitive and motor rehabilitation research.

11 Jan 2012

Muscles must work too inefficiently to speed walk

Other than Olympic race walkers, people generally find it more comfortable to run than walk when they start moving at around 2 meters per second - about 4.5 miles per hour.

6 Jan 2012