Digam Limbu, 23, had sustained spinal cord injury in a road accident in Qatar on August 28 last year. The accident changed Limbu´s life, who then worked in Qatar. His legs do not function and he is confined to wheelchair.

A year on, a happy moment came in his life as he won the title of a swimming competition of athletes with spinal cord injury on Sunday. Limbu clocked 39.98 seconds to complete 25 meters in the competition organized by Nepal Spinal Cord Injury Sports Association with assistance from wushu player Sami Lama and Buddha Prakash School, Jorpati. Continue Reading »

Even as supporters of human embryonic stem cell research are reeling from last week’s sudden cutoff of federal funding, another portentous landmark is quietly approaching: the world’s first attempt to carefully test the cells in people.

Scientists are poised to inject cells created from embryonic stem cells into some patients with a progressive form of blindness and others with devastating spinal cord injuries. That’s a welcome step for researchers eager to move from the laboratory to the clinic and for patients hoping for cures. But beyond being loathsome to those with moral objections to any research using cells from human embryos, the tests are worrying many proponents: Some argue that the experiments are premature, others question whether they are ethical, and many fear that the trials risk disaster for the field if anything goes awry. Continue Reading »

LONDON — London will mark the two-year countdown to the homecoming of the Paralympics on Sunday, celebrating the growing prominence of the event and its start in England in 1948.

More than 500,000 people have already registered interest in buying tickets on the London 2012 website for the 12-day event, and organizers hope to attract a global TV audience of 4 billion. Continue Reading »

(Reuters) – Government officials say they will appeal a U.S. District Court injunction that stops new federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research.

The ruling has no direct effect on researchers or companies working with private funds, but government funding often kick-starts the most basic, and risky biological work.

Scientists are working to use them to repair severed spinal cords, regenerate brain cells lost in Parkinson’s disease and restore the tissue destroyed by juvenile diabetes. Continue Reading »

Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex:CUR) announced that it has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a Phase I safety clinical trial for chronic spinal cord injury with its spinal cord stem cells. This multicenter Phase I safety trial will enroll a total of 16 long-term, or chronic, spinal cord injury patients, with an American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Grade A level of impairment, one-to-two years post-injury. ASIA A refers to a patient with no motor or sensory function in the relevant segments and is considered to be complete paralysis. Continue Reading »

District court judge blocks federal funding for embryonic stem cell research

Just when you thought embryonic stem cell research would begin to show whether regenerating damaged cells would allow spinal cord injury victims to walk again or help repair damaged hearts, a federal district court judge has ordered it to stop. Continue Reading »

The University of California, Irvine, has just completed the very first study to show that human stem cells can bring back movement in spinal cord injury, advocating the possibility of treatment for a more vast populace of patients.

Past breakthroughs in stem cell studies concentrated on the vital or beginning stage of spinal cord injury, a time span of up to a couple of weeks after the onset of the trauma when medications can bring about some mobile recovery. Continue Reading »

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Obama administration Monday from using federal dollars to fund expanded human embryonic stem cell research, saying the research involves the destruction of embryos.

The ruling comes after the National Institutes of Health last year issued new guidelines permitting federal funding for research on certain stem cell lines that had already been created. Continue Reading »

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia –A Saudi court is trying to persuade a man paralyzed in a fight to drop his demand to inflict a similar injury on his attacker by having his spinal cord surgically damaged, a judiciary spokesman said Monday. Continue Reading »

The first patient to undergo an adult stem cell procedure that may help spinal cord injury patients regain function had an injection Thursday that may change the course of medical history.

Sitting in his den Thursday morning, surrounded by pictures of Dr. John, Matt Cole, the patient, was cool, calm and collected. His wife Kim was with him, and he answered questions for documentation of the medical procedure he was about to undertake – an injection of his stem cells into his spinal cord that may help him regain use of his lower body. Continue Reading »