familymednews.com
A new study has shown that frailty is an important predictor of worse outcome after traumatic spinal cord injury in patients less than 75 years of age. In patients younger than 75 years, frailty was a predictor of adverse events, acute length of stay, and in-hospital mortality, as reported in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma. “The Effect of […]
Continue reading »
An analysis led by researchers from The Ohio State University College of Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center found that bias in the design and reporting of spinal cord injury (SCI) studies in animals results in overestimation of the effectiveness of a potential treatment to prevent infections in human patients with SCI. The research findings are published […]
Continue reading »
Spinal cord injury disconnects communication between the brain and the spinal cord, disrupting control over parts of the body. Studying the mechanisms of recovery, Leuven researcher Aya Takeoka (NERF) found that a specific type of neuronal feedback from sites below the injury plays a crucial role during early recovery and for maintaining regained motor functions. These new basic research findings […]
Continue reading »
A research team at the Krembil Research Institute in Toronto has developed an innovative strategy that could help to restore breathing following traumatic spinal cord injury. The team, led by principal investigator Dr. Michael Fehlings—a neurosurgeon/neuroscientist, specialist in spinal cord injury and senior scientist at UHN—published its findings today in the journal Nature in a paper titled “Cervical excitatory neurons […]
Continue reading »
Independence in mobility is the single most important factor affecting quality of life in patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI), reports a study in the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, the official journal of the Association of Academic Physiatrists. Based on validated clinical questionnaires, the study by Julien Goulet, MD, and colleagues of Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de […]
Continue reading »
Monash University researchers have restored movement and regenerated nerves using stem cells in zebra fish where the spinal cord is severely damaged. The research, presented at the International Society for Stem Cell Research conference in Melbourne this week, raises the possibility that these same stem cells could be triggered in human patients who have suffered paralysing damage to their nervous […]
Continue reading »
One of the most severe outcomes of spinal cord injury from car accidents, sports impacts, or other neck trauma, is losing the ability to control breathing, with patients often requiring artificial ventilation for the rest of their lives. Researchers at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) recently tested a hydrogel that releases a nerve-protecting agent at the site of […]
Continue reading »
An experimental drug has shown promise as a potential therapy for spinal cord injuries in animal studies. The compound, 4-aminopyridine-3-methanol, works in a similar way as a drug previously developed at Purdue, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), which has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat multiple sclerosis. Dr. Riyi Shi, professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, […]
Continue reading »