Paralysis News and Research

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Paralysis is the loss of muscle function in part of your body. It happens when something goes wrong with the way messages pass between your brain and muscles. Paralysis can be complete or partial. It can occur on one or both sides of your body. It can also occur in just one area, or it can be widespread. Paralysis of the lower half of your body, including both legs, is called paraplegia. Paralysis of the arms and legs is quadriplegia.

New study: Fetal surgery for spina bifida greatly improves child's mobility

Performing delicate surgery in the womb, months before birth, can substantially improve outcomes for children with a common, disabling birth defect of the spine. Experts at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia co-led a new landmark study showing that fetal surgery for spina bifida greatly reduces the need to divert fluid from the brain, improves mobility and improves the chances that a child will be able to walk independently.

9 Feb 2011

Motorcycle helmets reduce spine injuries after collisions

Motorcycle helmets, long known to dramatically reduce the number of brain injuries and deaths from crashes, appear to also be associated with a lower risk of cervical spine injury, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests.

8 Feb 2011

Study: Fluorescent probe may serve as useful tool in future surgeries to repair injured nerves

Accidental damage to thin or buried nerves during surgery can have severe consequences, from chronic pain to permanent paralysis. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine may have found a remedy: injectable fluorescent peptides that cause hard-to-see peripheral nerves to glow, alerting surgeons to their location even before the nerves are encountered.

6 Feb 2011

NOCSAE warns athletes and parents not to rely solely on marketing, promotional materials

The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment issued a warning to athletes and parents of athletes to get the facts about football helmets and concussion protection – and not rely solely on marketing and promotional materials.

5 Feb 2011

Benefits and underutilization of ITB therapy for multiple sclerosis

A new scientific article has been published demonstrating the profound impact of spasticity on patients with multiple sclerosis and the benefits and underutilization of intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy from Medtronic, Inc. as a treatment option for these patients.

4 Feb 2011

Merck announces publication of GARDASIL pivotal Phase III study data in NEJM

Merck announced today that data from the pivotal Phase III study with GARDASIL in males were published in the February 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 Feb 2011

Bill Gates' annual letter calls for focus on eradicating polio, governments to sustain foreign aid

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "urged developed nations to help him wipe out polio 'once and for all' at an event to release his third annual letter [.pdf] Monday," Agence France-Presse reports.

2 Feb 2011

Bill Gates argues the case for polio eradication and expanded childhood immunization

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, argues the case for polio eradication and expanded childhood immunization in his third annual letter released today. The letter, a personal account of his priorities, also calls on governments to invest in foreign aid, even in the face of a tough economic climate.

1 Feb 2011

Taxol drug promotes regeneration of nerve cells in CNS after spinal cord injury: Study

In a study published today in Science, a global research team reports that the cancer drug Taxol promotes the regeneration of injured nerve cells in the central nervous system after spinal cord injury.

28 Jan 2011

As recording technology rapidly improves, neurons give up their secrets cell by cell

Scientists at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), designated the "#1 Rehabilitation Hospital in America" by U.S. News & World Report since 1991, report that, thanks to improvements in technology and data analysis, our understanding of the functional principles that guide the development and operation of the brain could improve drastically in the next few years.

27 Jan 2011

Molecular mechanism in nerve fibers ensures rapid conductance of nervous system impulses

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine describes a key molecular mechanism in nerve fibers that ensures the rapid conductance of nervous system impulses.

27 Jan 2011

Minimally invasive technique appears helpful in reanimating lower face after paralysis

A procedure involving only one small incision and no major modifications to bone can be used to transpose a tendon and appears helpful in reanimating the lower face after paralysis, according to a report in the January/February issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

18 Jan 2011

FDA stops operations of N.Y.-based beverage company

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice today filed a complaint for permanent injunction against a Jamaica, N.Y.-based beverage company to prevent it from processing and distributing juice and other products.

14 Jan 2011

Merck announces FDA approval for GARDASIL against HPV-related anal cancer

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for the prevention of anal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 and for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) grades 1, 2 and 3 (anal dysplasias and precancerous lesions) caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, in males and females 9 through 26 years of age.

23 Dec 2010

Spinal Botox injection reduces pain

Botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT/A)—better known as Botox—reduces responses to an inflammation-related pain stimulus when injected into the spinal canal in mice, reports a study in the January issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

22 Dec 2010

Exciting progress made in MS research during 2010

Exciting advances were made in 2010 in virtually every field of MS research. Progress toward finding new therapies for MS is illustrated by the availability of the first oral disease-modifying therapy for MS. Progress was also made toward finding ways to restore function and improving quality of life and specific MS symptoms through exercise, meditation, rehabilitation and medications, including the first therapy specifically approved to treat a symptom of MS (Ampyra).

20 Dec 2010

31-year-old mother with Gorham-Stout syndrome goes home with virtually rebuilt spine

Laurie Harms, Los Angeles, feared she'd never hold her infant daughter, Sky, again. A devastating and extremely rare bone-eroding disease - Gorham-Stout syndrome - had left the 31-year-old crumpled in a hospital bed - her neck broken, arms limp and useless, and voice muted by tubes.

10 Dec 2010

News outlets report on polio outbreaks in Central, East Africa

"Bad immunisation strategy has been blamed for an outbreak of polio, which has killed nearly 200 and is believed to have caused paralysis in more than 2,000 others across Angola, Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," the Mail & Guardian writes in a story examining the emergence of the disease in the three countries and efforts to control it.

10 Dec 2010

Microsurgical technique effective in removing acoustic tumors

Surgery to remove tumors under the brain known as acoustic neuromas produces favorable outcomes in the "vast majority" of patients, according to one of the largest studies of its kind.

8 Dec 2010

Swissmedic authorizes Phase I/II clinical trial of human neural stem cells for chronic spinal cord injury

A therapy developed by Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings of UC Irvine's Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center in collaboration with researchers at StemCells Inc. will be the basis of the world's first clinical trial using human neural stem cells to treat spinal cord injury.