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.

Health organizations urge Congress to protect Medicare beneficiaries' access to critical rehabilitative services

A coalition of organizations representing consumers, health professionals and providers recently sent a letter to Congressional Leadership, calling for the immediate reinstatement of the exceptions process for Medicare Part B outpatient therapy services. Without such efforts, thousands of Medicare beneficiaries will exceed arbitrary limitations on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services.

28 Jan 2010

Geron collaborates to explore hESC-based product for Alzheimer’s disease

Geron Corporation today announced that it has entered into a collaboration jointly funded by Geron and a University of California Discovery Research and Training Grant to investigate the therapeutic potential of its human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based product, GRNOPC1, for Alzheimer’s disease. The company is currently developing GRNOPC1 for the potential treatment of spinal cord injury.

27 Jan 2010

Elan Drug Technologies issues statement on FDA approval of AMPYRA

Elan Drug Technologies, a business unit of Elan Corporation, plc (NYSE: ELN) today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of AMPYRA™ (dalfampridine) as a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

25 Jan 2010

Acorda Therapeutics receives marketing approval from FDA for AMPYRA

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has received marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for AMPYRA™ (dalfampridine), an oral treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

22 Jan 2010

Findings offer potential significance to the recovery of walking after spinal cord injury

Researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet have created a genetically modified mouse in which certain neurons can be activated by blue light. Shining blue light on brainstems or spinal cords isolated from these mice produces walking-like motor activity. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, are of potential significance to the recovery of walking after spinal cord injury.

22 Jan 2010

Neuralstem announces treatment of first ALS patient with spinal cord stem cells

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that the first ALS patient was treated with its spinal cord stem cells yesterday at the Emory ALS Center at Emory University, in Atlanta, GA. A total of up to 18 patients is planned to be treated in this first U.S. clinical trial to evaluate human neural stem cells for the treatment of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease). ALS affects roughly 30,000 people in the U.S., with about 5,600 new diagnoses per year, according to the ALS Association.

21 Jan 2010

SCF to host "Accelerate the Cure" fundraiser

On Thursday, January 21, 2010, the Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research (SCF) is hosting “Accelerate the Cure,” a fundraiser with Dr. Joshua Hare, Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine, Director, Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.

20 Jan 2010

InVivo Therapeutics sponsors fundraising event to support patients with spinal cord injuries

InVivo Therapeutics will be the lead champion level sponsor for the black tie gala fundraiser to support the Greater Boston Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, a non-profit organization that offers programs and services to those with spinal cord injury/disease (SCI).

20 Jan 2010

Sirnaomics certifies polypeptide nanoparticle technology

Sirnaomics, Inc. (www.sirnaomics.com) announced today that the company has licensed a polypeptide nanoparticle technology invented by Professor A. James Mixson of University of Maryland Medical School.

18 Jan 2010

Breakthrough discovery could lead to new treatments for a variety of CNS disorders

A breakthrough discovery by scientists at the University of Kentucky could someday lead to new treatments for a variety of diseases of the brain, spinal cord and the eye.

18 Jan 2010

Nominations open for 2010 National Courage Award

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2010 National Courage Award. Since 1980, Minnesota-based Courage Center has presented the National Courage Award, which recognizes an individual's contributions to the health, welfare and rehabilitation of people with disabilities.

9 Jan 2010

Jiangsu Government grants $1.8M for research and development of hUC-MSC technologies

The Jiangsu Government's Science and Technology Department has announced a $1.8 million grant - the Jiangsu Technological Achievements Transformational Grant - to support the research and development of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell (hUC-MSC) technologies. The grant recipient and administrator, Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (http://www.beikebiotech.com ), is working with Jiangsu University and Nanjing University's Drum Tower Hospital to fulfill the grant's requirements.

9 Jan 2010

Chinese researchers become the world's fifth most prolific contributors to regenerative medicine

Chinese researchers have become the world's fifth most prolific contributors to peer-reviewed scientific literature on clock-reversing regenerative medicine even as a skeptical international research community condemns the practice of Chinese clinics administering unproven stem cell therapies to domestic and foreign patients.

8 Jan 2010

Cryo-Cell International continues to expand R&D initiatives to accelerate therapeutic benefits of stem cells

Cryo-Cell International, Inc. a global leader in stem cell innovation, resolves to help women inspire and empower each other to take charge of their health in the New Year, and to spark conversations about the promise of stem cells.

31 Dec 2009

Second successful phrenic nerve decompression surgery

The Plastic Surgery Center today announced that immediately following a rare phrenic nerve surgery to repair his paralyzed diaphragm, a 47-year-old man has reported significantly improved breathing and feels “15 years younger.” The surgery marked the second known case of successful phrenic nerve decompression, both of which were performed by a New Jersey medical team led by Dr. Matthew Kaufman of the Plastic Surgery Center in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.

23 Dec 2009

CSC completes a Series B financing round

California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC), a leading stem cell company, announced that it has completed a Series B financing round with private investors. The financing will enable the company to support the advancement of its therapeutic products to human clinical trials, as well as the generation and distribution of its tools to aid in stem cell research and drug discovery.

21 Dec 2009

Tips for preventing injury in winter sports

The tragic death of actress Natasha Richardson this past March put a spotlight on the potential risks inherent to skiing, as well as the deadly consequences that can result from head trauma. Richardson died two days after suffering an epidural hematoma and slipping into a coma. What at first appeared to be a minor bump on the head from a fall on a beginner ski slope in Quebec proved fatal.

19 Dec 2009