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What are the prospects for “curing” spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and related injuries of the central nervous system?
By Lakshmi Bangalore, PhD
The spinal cord is the only bridge that connects the brain to a vast majority of the body. The cables of wire-like nerve fibers within the bridge provide the path for millions of electrical signals that exert the brain’s control on the many organs and organ-systems, allowing them to perform their respective functions.
When such a bridge is broken or damaged, there are important consequences. Paralysis, the inability to consciously move, is one of the most severe and devastating [...]
Dr. Wise Young says SCI therapies abound. Clinical trials are key.
By Rob Ingraham
Recently returned from a year abroad where he helped organize the first, and largest, clinical trial network for spinal cord injury (SCI) therapies in China, Dr. Wise Young gave a ringing endorsement of the burgeoning therapeutic possibilities in development overseas and a plea for getting more clinical trials underway in the United States.
Young, who holds the Richard H. Shindall Chair in Neuroscience in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University in New Jersey, delivered the Tri-Association Keynote Address at a plenary session of [...]
If you thought the Salk vaccine permanently ended the scourge of polio, think again.
By Kelly Rouba
Ms. Wheelchair America 2008 Alana Wallace has found strategies to cope with post-polio related fatigue.
It’s been about two years since NBC’s show American Dreams had its final run on prime time television after falling victim to low ratings. Today, the show is still missed by viewers who enjoyed being able to journey back in time through the eyes of heroine Meg Pryor as she danced on American Bandstand and worried as her older brother JJ fought in the Vietnam War and her younger brother [...]
Ancient Views of SCI
The idea of a cure for spinal cord injury is relatively new, but even the ancients grappled with spinal cord injury care.
By Tiffiny Carlson
The ancients were not completely ignorant or unaware of the realm of spinal cord injury (SCI) medicine. Thanks to the survival of a number of historical texts, we can peek into the minds of doctors from thousands of years ago, and see their thoughts, opinions, and preferences of treatment (if any) for those unfortunates who sustained an SCI back then, before the advent of antibiotics, rubber or plastic (for the creation of [...]
Inspired by California facility, Push to Walk in New Jersey offers clients with SCI a chance for recovery on the East Coast.
By Anya Starykh
Jim Laughlin (right) gets some assistance on the Power Plate from trainer Eric Prol.
At 21, Darren Templeton of Kinnelon, New Jersey, has many accomplishments to boast of. A student at Ramapo College, he’s an avid athlete and a passionate rugby player. He recently went skydiving for the first time and is thinking of going again in the spring. He is also organizing a ski trip to Windham Mountain Ski Resort in Upstate New York with some [...]
New SCI coalition will “speak with one voice” to lawmakers
By Rob Ingraham
In a broad new initiative aimed at coordinating national legislative and policy concerns, nearly 20 leading organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people with spinal cord injuries and disorders have formed the Spinal Cord Leaders Council. The coalition will, for the first time, provide a single forum for foundations, hospitals, associations, research facilities, and regulators to articulate priorities for lawmakers and policy-making groups across the country on issues important to the SCI/D population.
United Spinal Association was elected Secretariat of the new organization and President and CEO, Paul J. Tobin [...]
By Craig Kennedy
If Christopher Reeve were alive today, the first piece of advice he would have for us all would be to live for today. Despite all the work he did to find a cure for paralysis, Reeve lived in order to find a way to make each day better. He strived to improve his quality of life so that he could live a meaningful existence until he could walk again.
It’s hard to imagine that the world’s progress in this scientific field over the last decade could have anything but a positive affect on people with disabilities, but perhaps it [...]
By Scott Chesney
Well, I said you can ask me anything and you certainly delivered…and I thank you! While I know that taking the time to pour your feelings or thoughts into an e-mail is somewhat time-consuming, I am hopeful that those of you that sent in your questions felt a nice release. Studies have shown that by putting things down on paper or in this instance, an e-mail, one can experience the same type of release that actually speaking to someone generates. I recommend both ways. There is nothing that compares to taking the time to communicate with a loved one, [...]
By Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD
It was months after my spinal cord injury before I did my first load of laundry. The reason why? I couldn’t get into my laundry room!
Even though our laundry room is on the main floor, located off of the attached garage, it is still a tight squeeze to navigate my manual wheelchair into the room. When I first got home from the hospital, my husband Mark had to remove the laundry room door to give me enough room to squeeze in. There are still black marks across the front of the washer and dryer, where my wheelchair [...]
By Tamar Asedo Sherman
Finding a job isn’t easy. Most of us check the want ads in our local newspaper, searching for something we might be able to do. That is the easiest approach, but it is in fact the least likely way to obtain employment. How could that be? Ever since there have been newspapers, that’s the way people have looked for jobs.
But way back, even before the advent of newspapers, and continuing still, the first most effective way to get a job is through networking. It’s all about who you know, or who the [...]
By Kathleen M. Muldoon
Yvette Silver www.yvettesilver.com
It was the first week of December and my seventh grade home room teacher, Miss Cox, had promised a special announcement.
“Regardless of which holiday your family celebrates, winter is a time of giving,” Miss Cox said. “So I decided to assign each of you a Secret Pal.”
She held up some folded slips of paper.
“I will give each of you the name of your Secret Pal as you leave. Starting tomorrow, you will become a special, secret friend to the person whose name you have. Maybe you can leave [...]
Compiled by Tom Scott
Local Wheelchair Quad Rugby Team Sweeps to D.C. Area Tournament Title
The United Spinal Association New York Jets quad rugby team won five straight matches over two days to win the First Annual Capitol Clash wheelchair quad rugby tournament held at the Hoop Magic Sports Academy in Chantilly, Virginia, at the end of October.
On Saturday, October 27th, the Jets “ruggers” eked out a victory over the Carolina Crash team by a score of 37 to 28. Their second rugby match of the day was not as difficult as the Jets flew past the Connecticut Jammers by a [...]
Politics and Disability
Misc.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Talking Politics
NEWSROOM: Showdown on SCHIP
By Peggy Hathaway and Andrew Morris
RESEARCH FRONT: Cooling Therapy and a Buffalo Bill
Features
How a Bill Really Becomes a Law
One of United Spinal Association’s highest priorities this year, the ADA Restoration Act, illustrates the nuts and bolts of how a bill is enacted – and how important your voice is to the
process.
By Peggy Hathaway
No Agreement in Sight on Electronic Voting Machines
Despite HAVA, controversy continues over secure and accessible systems.
By Rob Ingraham
The Veterans Disability Benefits Commission Report to Congress: [...]
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