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The Quest for a Cure: Paving the Way in Paraplegic Research
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World's Leading Spinal Cord Scientists Meet in Salzburg, Austria
The foremost spinal cord injury
researchers from the U.S. and around the globe will meet
in Salzburg's
Hangar 7 this April 28-May 2 for a scientific symposium
hosted by Wings for
Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation. Twenty-six of the
world's most
renowned neuroscientists, including 13 U.S. scholars, will
be discussing
such topics as an injured spinal cord's ability to regenerate
and the
potential treatments for paraplegia.
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Spinal cord injury research hampered by animal models
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Scientists say difficulty lies in extrapolating animal data to humans
Research on traumatic spinal cord injuries is
hampered by a reliance on animal experiments that don’t
accurately predict human outcomes, says a new study in the upcoming
edition of the peer-reviewed journal Reviews in the Neurosciences. The
review was written by scientists with the Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine.
“Despite decades of animal experiments, we still don’t have
a drug to cure spinal cord injury in humans,” says Aysha Akhtar,
a neurologist with PCRM and the lead author.
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New stem cell therapy for spinal injuries
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Namita's life came to a standstill the day she suffered a spinal cord injury 16 years ago. Bound to a wheelchair all these years, she felt life was passing her by. Namita, who loved the outdoors, couldn't even move without help. But what embarrassed her most was her loss of bowel and bladder control. Depressed, she had almost become a recluse. Then life changed suddenly again after she went for a new stem cell therapy. It worked wonders — she has regained some movement of her legs; she can take a few steps with the help of a walker and has even regained control over her bladder.
Harsha, a Bangalore-based paraplegic, too has reason to smile these days. He had got used to life in a wheelchair for years. But a mesenchymal stem cell transplant in his spinal chord has given him some hope. Harsha can now move his limbs a little, and that's given him a new lease of hope.
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Show support for Wheels in Motion
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A team of volunteers in Surrey is preparing to organize the sixth
annual Rick Hansen Wheels In Motion, presented by Scotiabank and taking
place on Sunday, June 8.
The Surrey
Event Committee, chaired by Stan Leyenhorst and Tara Cleave, is asking
the local community to show their support by joining the local event
committee.
“Last year’s event was an
unbelievable success and we want to build on that success this year by
getting as many people involved as possible,” said Cleave.
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New clinic opens at the Temple VA hospital
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Military veterans with spinal cord injuries have a new place to get the specialized help they need in Central Texas. The
VA Hospital in Temple opened a new clinic Monday morning. More and more
veterans are finding the care they need at the VA Hospital in Temple.
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Spinal cord injury victims get support
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Lena Schoemaker has always been
an athlete. She played varsity basketball and softball and ran cross
country at West High. A big part of her life was being active.
But a car accident in 2006 nearly took that all
away from her. She suffered a lacerated kidney and a collapsed lung and
- most life-altering of all - she was left paralyzed from the chest
down.
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Fil-Am is most severely wounded Iraq veteran
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The most severely wounded and disabled US soldier to return home from
Iraq is a Filipino-American by the name of Joseph “Jay”
Briseno Jr. Shot in 2003 in the back of the neck at pointblank range
that severed his spinal cord and left him quadriplegic and blind, Jay
now lives with his parents and siblings in Virginia and requires
full-time, around-the-clock care. In an article by news editor Edmund
Silvestre published in the Filipino Reporter, Jay’s father Joseph
Sr., a retired US Army sergeant, describes the extent of his
son’s injuries and needs: “Aside from spinal cord and brain
injuries, Jay also suffered two cardiac arrests and has been attached
to a life support… doctors told us that he would die, that
it’s impossible for him to survive his injuries and that
it’s best for all of us if he were to die.”
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London to Paris bike ride for injured Sian
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 PE teacher tackles charity event just four years after breaking backA PE teacher from Llanfair Caereinion will cycle from London to Paris just four years after breaking her back.
In
2004 Sian Harries, 25, came within millimetres of being paralysed for
life when she suffered a tragic accident on a trip to Australia,
however just four years on she will now complete a 300-mile journey
from London to Paris to raise funds for Spinal Research UK.
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Former Lion now roars for disabled
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At one time, Utley was a great Detroit Lions offensive lineman, until
an NFL game on Nov. 17, 1991, against the Rams, when a hard hit caused
a severe spinal cord injury. He became a wheelchair-using paraplegic.
Now he heads the Mike Utley Foundation, which is working hard for a
cure for spinal cord injuries by selectively funding promising
research, rehabilitation, and education programs. "The
Foundation started in 1992, just shortly after I got hurt," said
42-year-old Utley. "At the time, I wasn't able to transfer or feed
myself, and didn't have feeling in my hands. I had to have someone run
(the Foundation) for me."
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Scientists make Mice Walk After Spinal Cord Injury
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Have you ever wondered how we move our hand, feet and other parts of the body? It is through signals emanating from brain
giving directions. But if spinal cord, the vertebral tissue connecting
brain and lower part of spine, is damaged or injured, it effects our
movements of limbs and in some cases other parts of the body leading to
paralysis.
Injury
to spinal cord results in nerve damage which is due to trauma or injury
to vertebral column thus effecting brain’s signaling ability.
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April 2008
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