Scientists at UC Irvine’s Reeve-Irvine Research Center (USA) have found that a therapy combining salmon fibrin injections into the spinal cord and injections of a gene inhibitor into the brain restored voluntary motor function in a rat model of spinal cord injury, The…
Month: July 2014
Gene Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury: Progress and Challenges – Dr. Murray Blackmore
http://vimeo.com/79527002 Could it be possible to genetically reprogram adult neurons to regain their embryonic growth potential? Video provided by Unite 2 Fight Paralysis
Stem cell packed scaffold used to treat SCI in rats
Dr Ning Yuan and colleagues found that transplantation of neural stem cells in a double-layer collagen membrane with unequal pore sizes is an effective therapeutic strategy to repair an injured spinal cord in rats. More information: Yuan N, Tian W,…
Motoneuron-like cell transplantation and GDNF delivery for repair of SCI
Iranian scientists have show that injected adipose-derived stem cells-transdifferentiated motoneurons combined with transplanted glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)-gelfoam complex holds a great promise for repair of spinal cord injury. More information: Abdanipour A, Tiraihi T, Taheri T. Intraspinal transplantation of motoneuron-like…
Chondroitinase clinical trial for paralysed dogs
During the past decade, numerous experiments in laboratory rodents have shown the benefits of injecting chondroitinase into regions of damaged spinal cord. Iowa State University researchers are running a randomised control trial treating paralysed dogs with chondroitinase and physical therapy…
Team Dubois take on the City 2 Surf
On the 9th August Sydney will be taken over by tens of thousands of runners joining the fun of the City to Surf. Amongst them will be Team Dubois: five siblings running for their father who lives with paraplegia after…
Melissa takes on the Age Run
In June this year Melissa Williams’ friend Ben came off his motorbike and fractured his neck. Thankfully his spinal cord has survived intact and he’ll make a full recovery but as Melissa say’s “accidents do happen and not everyone will…
Sniff n Fix? Intranasal nerve growth factor repairs injured spinal cord neurons
Italian researcher Dr. Luigi Aloe has shown that intranasal administration of nerve growth factor can bypass the blood-brain barrier and stimulate the growth of spinal cord neurons. Related results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 10, 2014).…
New study taps into genetics of spinal pain
Pain researchers at the University of Adelaide have launched a new study to investigate the underlying reasons why some sufferers of spinal injury have persistent pain and others don’t. People from South Australia and New South Wales who have suffered…
Neurological and psychological effects of SCUBA diving and high altitude exercise on individuals with chronic spinal cord injury
http://vimeo.com/79357580 Dr. Becker discusses the benefits noted when people with SCI participate in these activities, including improvements in spasticity, ASIA motor and sensory scores, and PTSD symptoms.