When getting patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries back on their feet and walking, either of two rehab approaches seems to be as good as the other.So it emerged from a 146-patient multicenter study that tested a method involving body-weight support on a treadmill versus an over-ground mobility training method.

The over-ground practice was no more effective than conventional step training at improving walking or gait, reported Bruce H. Dobkin, M.D., and colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles, in the Feb. 28 issue of Neurology.

But the investigators were surprised to find that regardless of treatment type, a high percentage of patients with incomplete spinal injuries -- defined as American Spinal Injury Association Impairment (ASIA) scale C or D -- were able to achieve functional walking speeds averaging 1.1 meters per second.

TURIN, Italy -- The Olympic flag has been passed to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan accepted the five-ringed flag from International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge on Sunday night during the closing ceremonies of the Turin Winter Games.

Sullivan, a quadriplegic since a skiing accident at the age of 19, needed a special holster on his motorized wheelchair to wave the flag. Rogge inserted the flag's pole into the holster, then Sullivan rolled his chair on the stage to wave the flag eight times, bring a standing ovation from the crowd.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Murderball also took the Audience Award for an American Documentary and a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. MURDERBALL is presented by THINKFilm in association with A&E Indie Films and is an EAT Film Production.

MURDERBALL features fierce rivalry, stopwatch suspense, dazzling athletic prowess, larger-than-life personalities, and triumph over daunting odds. But “Murderball,” the original name for the full-contact sport now known as quad rugby, is played by quadriplegics in armored wheelchairs. MURDERBALL is a story like no other, told by men who see the world from a different angle.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), which in November joined with dozens of other patient advocacy groups as a member of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, has endorsed the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.

St. Louis, Mo. - infoZine - Proposed for the November 2006 state ballot, the initiative will prevent the Missouri legislature from banning any stem cell research or cures allowed under federal law. It also creates clear ethical and safety guidelines for stem cell research conducted in Missouri , including a ban on human cloning or any attempt to clone a human being.

WILLIAMSPORT -- Robin Larson had just turned 20 when he and his buddies decided to play water tag in a pond. He dived in, hit the bottom, broke a vertebra and injured his spinal cord.

For 23 years, Larson has been paralyzed from the chest down. He can move his arms and one index finger, but not his legs. He must use an electric wheelchair now, because years of using a manual model ruined his shoulder joints.

In early April, Larson plans to undergo experimental surgery at the Xishan Hospital's Neurological Disorders and Research Center in Beijing, China. Nasal cells will be taken from his olfactory nerve and put in a culture to multiply. Then they will be transplanted above and below the injury, in hopes that new nerve connections will develop. "The results look promising, but nothing in life is guaranteed," Larson says. "Any gain is better than no gain."