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.

Medtronic's COPE-HCV clinical study commences

Medtronic, Inc., today reported the initiation and first enrollments of patients in COPE-HCV (COntinuous Interferon Delivery via the Medtronic Paradigm Pump Infusion System Clinical Evaluation for Chronic HCV), the company’s first-ever clinical study using an external pump infusion system to treat patients with the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

3 Sep 2009

MRRI research study to investigate how zolpidem might restore consciousness for patients in the vegetative state

Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute (MRRI), the research arm of MossRehab, one of the world’s leading clinical rehabilitation centers, has launched an ambitious research study to investigate how the sleep drug zolpidem might restore consciousness for patients in the vegetative state.

31 Aug 2009

Geron to present updates on product development programs at four investor conferences in September

Geron Corporation today announced that the company will present updates of its product development programs at four investor conferences in the month of September.

31 Aug 2009

Geron provides additional comments on the recent clinical hold of Spinal Cord Injury IND

Geron Corporation today provided additional comments on the recent clinical hold on its Spinal Cord Injury IND.

27 Aug 2009

FDA to review Acorda Therapeutics’ NDA for Fampridine-SR

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOR) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed that its Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee will review the Company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for Fampridine-SR on October 14, 2009.

26 Aug 2009

FDA places Geron Corporation's IND for spinal cord injury on clinical hold

Geron Corporation (Nasdaq:GERN) today announced that its IND (Investigational New Drug application) for GRNOPC1, a cell therapy for neurologically complete, subacute spinal cord injury, has been placed on clinical hold by the FDA pending the agency’s review of new nonclinical animal study data submitted by the company. A clinical hold is an order that the FDA issues to a sponsor to delay a proposed trial or to suspend an ongoing trial.

19 Aug 2009

New nutrition practice guidelines for patients with spinal cord injury

The American Dietetic Association has published new evidence-based nutrition practice guidelines for registered dietitians on nutrition care for patients with spinal cord injury.

12 Aug 2009

No Shriners hospitals closing; some may be outpatient-only

"All 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children will stay open, but some eventually might become outpatient-only surgery facilities, the system that offers free specialty pediatric care said Thursday," CNN reports.

12 Jul 2009

Family Research Council President says NIH stem cell guidelines ethically irresponsible

Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins responded to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines implementing President Obama's executive order for federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). President Obama's order and the NIH guidelines remove life-protecting limits on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

7 Jul 2009

Obama administration releases final rules on stem cell research

The Obama administration released final regulations governing stem cell research on Monday. The New York Times reports that the rules will allow many older stem cell lines to be eligible for federally financed research.

7 Jul 2009

Researchers discuss combined approach to maximize benefits and minimize risks of stem cell therapy

Once placed into a patient's body, stem cells intended to treat or cure a disease could end up wreaking havoc simply because they are no longer under the control of the clinician.

22 May 2009

Robotic therapy for cerebral palsy

Over the past few years, MIT engineers have successfully tested robotic devices to help stroke patients learn to control their arms and legs. Now, they're building on that work to help children with cerebral palsy.

20 May 2009

New common pathway in neurodegenerative disease is a possible door to a point of no return

A just-out study suggests that what keeps chronic nervous system diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and ALS going - until they overcome the internal protective mechanisms a body can throw at them - may largely come down to poor conversational skills.

9 Apr 2009

Researchers regenerate axons necessary for voluntary movement

For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement.

6 Apr 2009

By shutting down inflammation, agent reverses damage from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have been able to speed recovery and substantially reduce damage resulting from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies.

1 Apr 2009

Astrocytes help separate man from mouse

A type of brain cell that was long overlooked by researchers embodies one of very few ways in which the human brain differs fundamentally from that of a mouse or rat, according to researchers who published their findings as the cover story in the March 11 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

23 Mar 2009

Therapeutic hypothermia is promising strategy to minimize tissue damage

Recognition of the benefits of cooling strategies to protect the brain and spinal cord after traumatic injury has led to a wealth of cutting edge research, prime examples of which are featured in a special hypothermia issue of Journal of Neurotrauma , a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

20 Mar 2009

Protein called Shp2 is key to embryonic stem cell differentiation

Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have learned that a protein called Shp2 plays a critical role in the pathways that control decisions for differentiation or self-renewal in both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs).

20 Mar 2009

Potential pathway for drug intervention

A newly identified molecular pathway that directs stem cells to produce glial cells yields insights into the neurobiology of Down's syndrome and a number of central nervous system disorders characterized by too many glial cells, according to a recent study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

15 Mar 2009

Multiple route bone marrow stem cell injections show promise to treat spinal cord injury

Researchers from DaVinci Biosciences, Costa Mesa, California, in collaboration with Hospital Luis Vernaza in Ecuador, have determined that injecting a patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells (autologous BMCs) directly into the spinal column using multiple routes can be an effective treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) that returns some quality of life for SCI patients without serious adverse events.

12 Mar 2009