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| LEGISLATIVE NEWS By Andrew Morris, Director of Legislation United Spinal Association submitted comments to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in support of ethical embryonic stem cell research. The NIH had issued proposed guidelines in response to an Executive Order that President Obama signed in March of 2009 that reversed the Bush administration’s ban on embryonic stem cell research funded in any part with federal funds. A researcher talks about the kinds of work his team and others are doing toward realizing the potential of stem cell therapies. Intelligently debate stem cell research with the facts. No one wants to get into a debate about stem cell research, only to end up looking like an uneducated halfwit. No matter which side you’re on, you should at least get the basic facts [...] A team of researchers from Harvard and Case Western Reserve has identified where potent molecules called chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) bind to the surface of neurons, exposing a novel therapeutic target for spinal cord [...] California-based Isis Pharmaceuticals may have discovered an effective treatment for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease––a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal [...] United Spinal Association presents $153,000 to Yale research center for the development of effective treatments for spinal cord injuries and disorders. [...]
Richard Gaskin is a United Spinal member from Montclair, New Jersey, who goes by the name Professir X when he raps, as he does in the video below. (Renowned SCI researcher Dr. Wise Young makes a special appearance.) Action Online is doing its part to help the Professir’s video go viral, in the hope that asking for Just A Dollar will help raise millions for spinal cord injury research. What Is Caudal Regression Syndrome? “There was no learning curve as I tried to educate myself on this rare and little-researched condition. This time, I wasn’t just reading about anonymous patient in a textbook; I was learning about my own newborn baby’s [...] The following three opportunities are available for NYC area people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) from the researchers at the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs National Center of Excellence on the Medical Consequences of SCI in the Bronx, NY. Couldn’t attend the 2008 World Stem Cell Summit? Well Tiffiny Carlson did. Check out her report on this event in “View From The [...] Do these star-shaped cells promote spinal repair or do they just cause pain? By Earline Gilley When you think of the spinal cord, you may automatically think of neurons. It’s only logical to think that the repair and replacement of damaged neurons would be key to curing spinal cord injury (SCI)-related paralysis. Until very recently, however, it had long been thought that neurons, unlike skin and blood cells, for example, could not regenerate. But conventional wisdom has been proven wrong. In the past two decades, researchers have found that there are indeed adult neural stem cells that can be used to grow new neurons. They [...] If you missed this segment on 60 Minutes last night on computer brain interface technology, the story and video are available here. From the 60 Minutes website: (CBS) Once in a while, we run across a science story that is hard to believe until you see it. That’s how we felt about this story when we first saw human beings operating computers, writing e-mails, and driving wheelchairs with nothing but their thoughts. Quietly in a number of laboratories, an astounding technology is developing that directly connects the human brain to a computer. It’s like a sudden leap in human evolution – a leap that could [...] Spinal Cord Stem Cells could be basis of new treatment according to researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Picower Institute for Learning and [...] Dr. Richard L. Bruno rants on why “Most research submitted to journals is [...] Harris Interactive polls 1,011 people living with MS and 317 care partners to determine impact on quality of [...] The spinal cord’s ability to process sensory information after a complete injury could play a key role in the development of new robotic rehabilitative devices. By Tom Scott The human body can function under extremely adverse conditions. This is becoming more evident in the field of spinal cord injuries (SCI), where researchers are uncovering the spinal cord’s ability to adapt to injury and the need for advanced robotic-assisted locomotor training devices to aid in recovery. The Brain-Spinal Cord Connection During a symposium at the New York Academy of Sciences, Reggie Edgerton, professor of Physiological Sciences at UCLA, presented his team’s research [...] Cutting edge hope for patients with chronic neurological disorders. By Tom Scott Viruses are ideal vectors for gene therapy. What is Gene Therapy? Gene therapy is the experimental treatment process of inserting a “corrected” or therapeutic gene into an individual’s cells and tissues to replace an “abnormal” disease-causing gene in order to treat a disease, or to use a gene to treat a disease, just like a medicine. Although gene therapy is still in its infancy, it has shown great potential in correcting and replacing defective genes behind many diseases, including cancer. Researchers in the US and Italy are investigating whether the opioid receptor antagonist naltrexone, in a low dose, can relieve symptoms of multiple sclerosis. By Ronald Hoffman, MD, and Skip Lenz, Pharm D, FASCP Last month, Action looked at a new use of the drug naltrexone, which was invented to combat addictions to heroin and other opiods, that has the potential to treat a range of neurological and other conditions when taken at a low-dose. (That article, “Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and MS,” is available here). This month we will look at three studies around the world that are testing the ability [...] |
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