Category Archives: Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. Research in cancer biology, spinal cord injury, birth defects, circulatory support devices and more will highlight Research!Louisville 2014, Sept. 16-19 at various locations in the Louisville Medical Center. Now in its 19th year, Research!Louisville annually features reports on the latest research underway at the institutions and organizations in the medical center and is sponsored by the University of Louisville; University of Louisville Hospital, Jewish Hospital and St. Marys Foundation, all part of KentuckyOne Health; and Norton Healthcare. Also included will be addresses from two internationally known leaders in medical research: Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, Alexandria, Va., will address Your Role in Changing Hearts and Minds for Science at 2 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 18, in Room 101/102 of the Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research (KCCTR) building, 505 S. Hancock St. Woolley will discuss the impact of a polarized Congress on federal health research agency budgets, share public opinion poll data and provide insights on how to effectively communicate with policy makers, the public and the media about research during an election year. Stefano Bonassi, Ph.D., head of the Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology Area of Systems Approaches and … Continue reading →

(Update, September 9):ATLANTA (News release) Injured University of Arkansas student Natalie Jo Eaton, 18, of Harrisburg, Ark., was transferred today from the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., to Shepherd Center in Atlanta for spinal cord injury rehabilitation. Miss Eaton, a freshman student, sustained a cervical spinal cord injury in an Aug. 19 incident on the university campus. Witnesses reported that she was impaled in the neck by a sharp fragment from a golf club that splintered when another student used it to hit a football during a fraternity party. Miss Eaton was admitted to Shepherd Centers Spinal Cord Injury Unit for evaluation, care and observation. On Wednesday, Sept. 10, she will begin a rigorous rehabilitation program under the guidance of a full team of medical and rehabilitation specialists. Shepherd Center specializes in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury or brain injury. Founded in 1975, Shepherd Center is a private, not-for-profit hospital and is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation. Medical and rehabilitation teams at Shepherd Center typically include the following: an attending physician, nurse, occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech language pathologist, recreation therapist, case … Continue reading →

Published on September 09, 2014 TORBROOK (TC Media) A national veterans advocate, working on behalf of an Annapolis Valley woman, is urging the government to start putting people over process. TC Media photo Leah Greene, a 36-year-old private, couldnt find the support she needed from the military and has turned to Barry Westholm, a national veterans advocate. Leah Greene, a 36-year-old private from Torbrook, who was stationed at 14 Wing Greenwood, says she was lost in the shuffle and couldnt find the support she needed after a spinal cord injury ended her military career and left her in chronic pain. She says the military abandoned her at a time when she needed it the most. Desperate, Greene contacted Barry Westholm, a well-known Ontario-based veterans advocate last fall, to help her pull her life back together. Westholm made headlines last year after his resignation from the Joint Personnel Support Unit (JPSU) and more recently his break with the Conservative party, openly criticizing the government for its poor treatment of ill and injured military personnel. The JPSU is a military branch created to help ill and injured military members, but with so many veterans now returning from tours of duty with injuries … Continue reading →

The 22-year-old suffered a serious cervical vertebrae and spinal cordinjury when featuring for the Blues in the inaugural World Club 10s tournament in June. Williams underwent a procedure at a Singapore hospitalbefore beingtransferred home and has been receiving treatment at Rookwood Hospital in Cardiff. The Blues have now published an update on his condition, confirmingthe centre has beenable to spend time out of hospital and workon the rehabilitation of hisupper limbs. "Owen has been at the Welsh Spinal Injuries and Neurological Rehabilitation Unit since early July, where he continues his long-term recovery and rehabilitation,"read a statement on Friday. "Owen is now tolerating periods of time sitting up in a wheelchair, allowing him the chance to spend short periods of time outside the hospital. "He is also starting to use the gym at the hospital for early upper limb rehabilitation." Originally posted here: Blues' Williams making progress in rehab … Continue reading →

In a study on rats, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered the cause of the involuntary muscle contractions which patients with severe spinal cord injuries frequently suffer. The findings have just been published in the Journal of Neuroscience and, in the long run, can pave the way for new treatment methods. Three thousand Danish patients suffer from severe spinal cord injuries after being involved in traffic accidents or accidents at work. An injury to the spinal cord is a catastrophe for the individual, and often results in complete or partial paralysis of the person's arms and legs. Despite the paralysis, several patients experience problems with involuntary muscle contractions or spasms which impair the patient's quality of life. The movements are due to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which normally plays a crucial role in relation to our voluntary control of movements by reinforcing the level of activity in the motor neurones when they have to activate the muscles to an extraordinary degree. Research shows that a group of cells in the spinal cord start supplying serotonin in an uncontrolled way following an injury, and this knocks the motor system out of control. "We now have a qualified idea of why … Continue reading →

5 hours 24 minutes ago by Faye DeHoff TUCSON - A new drug that may improve function after acute spinal cord injury has been chosen for clinical study at the University of Arizona Medical Center Trauma Center. UAMC is one of 60 trauma centers in the United States, Canada and Europe selected to conduct a clinical trial of a new investigational drug that could help people with acute spinal cord injuries (ASCI) experience less spinal cord damage and have improved function. Researchers are evaluating the safety and efficacy of an investigative new drug called SUN13837 to determine whether it can protect and regenerate the spinal nerves in ASCI patients. To be considered for the study, a participant must have suffered a spinal cord injury within 12 hours prior to receiving the first dose of the medication and be available for daily dosing for 28 consecutive days. UAMC is the only Level I Trauma Center in the Southwest involved in the two-year study. UA Department of Surgery surgeons Randall Friese, MD, associate professor, Division of Trauma, Critical Care, Burn and Emergency Surgery, and Rein Anton, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Division of Neurosurgery, are leading the study. Acute spinal cord injury occurs … Continue reading →

By RTT News, August 27, 2014, 09:14:00 AM EDT (RTTNews.com) - BioTime, Inc. ( BTX ) Wednesday said its subsidiary Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. ( ASTY ) has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to initiate a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of its product, AST-OPC1, in patients with complete cervical spinal cord injury. The approved trial follows the successful completion of the Phase 1 clinical study of the product. It is designed to assess safety and activity of escalating doses of AST-OPC1 in patients with complete cervical spinal cord injuries, the first targeted indication for AST-OPC1 and the first of future product registration clinical trials. ST-OPC1 is a population of cells derived from human embryonic stem cells that contains oligodendrocyte progenitor cells or OPCs. There are currently no approved therapies for the treatment of spinal cord injury. For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com http://www.rttnews.com See more here: BioTime Unit Gets FDA Nod To Initiate Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial Of AST-OPC1 … Continue reading →

Louisville, KY (PRWEB) August 18, 2014 The NeuroRecovery Training Institute (NeuroRTI), created to promote a culture of evidence-based practice (EBP) within the neurologic physical therapy profession, is excited to announce the launch an online course on a new instrument for assessing recovery in individuals with Spinal Cord Injury, the Neuromuscular Recovery Scale (NRS). The Neuromuscular Recovery Scale (NRS) was developed by clinicians and scientists in the Christopher Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network (NRN) at 7 outpatient clinical sites in the U.S. The NRS is innovative and unique in that recovery scores are based on a comparison to pre-injury performance criteria or how a task was performed one day prior to SCI. Therapists select from a toolbox of assessments to provide a baseline and plan treatments. The NRS differs distinctly as it does not allow the patient to use compensatory strategies during performance of the assessment items (e.g. sitting, sit-up, trunk extension, reaching, standing, walking). Thus, the NRS uniquely assesses how the task was performed without compensation while many outcome measures focus on whether the task was accomplished regardless of how. Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to: 1) Identify the specific use of the Neuromuscular Recovery Scale relative … Continue reading →

Houston, Texas (PRWEB) August 18, 2014 Premier e-health site Spine Guide recently announced the addition of a series of health videos. The new addition is meant to further educate the general public about the different kinds of spinal ailments and how to treat them. The video resources are split into three categories: Spine Conditions, Spine/Non-Surgical Procedures, and Spine/Surgical Procedures. The new archive, currently consisting of 23 videos, the Spine Conditions category lists the numerous spinal problems that could occur. Many of themlike osteoporosis, spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease, and spondylosisappear when people get older. Otherslike spinal cord injury, herniated disc, and whiplashare caused by trauma. Other common spinal problems include scoliosis, spinal stenosis, kyphosis, facet joint syndrome, and cervical and lumbar radiculopathy. This section also includes a tutorial on the spine's anatomy and demonstration on where back pain and neck pain begin. Some spinal problems are not serious enough to require surgery. A video on pain managementwhich is usually recommended for chronic paincomprises the Spine/Non-Surgical Procedures section. Pain management is a type of spinal treatment used to reduce the pain for conditions that cannot be cured, or cannot easily be eliminated. It can also be used to treat post-surgery pain. Pain … Continue reading →

News Amy Eley TODAY 4 hours ago For Amy Van Dyken-Rouen, Thursday marked another great stride in the wake of her spinal-cord injury. The six-time Olympic swimming champion was released from Craig Hospital in Denver, where she has been receiving treatment since severing her spinal cord in June in an accident that left her paralyzed below the waist. Im a thousand times better, she said on Thursday at the time of her release. Physically ... and mentally as well. Brennan Linsley / AP Amy Van Dyken-Rouen sits in her wheelchair beside her husband, Tom Rouen and Craig Hospital CEO Mike Fordyce, as all three talk about her stay at the hospital over the past two months. The Colorado native thanked the medical staff before leaving and spoke about the highs and lows of her hospital stay. She said her hardest moment was entering the pool for the first time since the accident and realizing she could no longer swim laps. Theres been a lot of tears shed for sure, Van Dyken-Rouen said. This is not easy and I dont want to portray the fact that because I have a smile on my face, it really is easy. Its really not. … Continue reading →