The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Network- Serving Kentuckiana.
Message From the President
Dear Members & Friends-
April’s meeting will be held at Frazier Rehab Institute, 220 Abraham Flexner Way, Louisville, in the 10th floor dining room at 6:30 p.m. At this time we do not have a speaker, but we hope to have one scheduled at meeting time. If we do not have a speaker, we will show a video.
Refreshments will be provided.
May’s meeting will be held at Frazier Rehab Institute, 220 Abraham Flexner Way, Louisville, in the 10th floor dining room at 6:30 p.m.
- David Allgood
From Reader’s Digest, March 2007
NANO-KNITTERS FOR NERVES By Laura McClure
Researchers at MIT have found a way to restore vision in damaged rodents. The innovative procedure uses nanotechnology to spur growth in damaged nerve cells.
Scientists say the technique could someday be used to restore speech, hearing, vision and movement in people affected by stroke, brain trauma and spinal cord injuries.
How does it work? A clear liquid of amino acids is injected into the injured part of the brain. The amino acids assemble into a mesh-like structure that’s similar to the body’s connective tissue. This “scaffolding” allows nerve cells to grow and reconnect, restoring lost communication between the brain and the body.
MIT neuroscientist Rutledge Ellis-Behnke tested the solution in hamsters with severed optic tracts. Within 24 hours, the injured nerve cells began to regrow in both young and adult rodents. “The brain started to heal,” Ellis-Behnke says. “We have never seen that before.” Six months later, 75% of the animals had regained Functional vision.
From the Internet –ed
NEW SCI TREATMENT AVAILABLE IN BOSTON
It’s been one year since Dana Reeve passed away. Dana and her husband, the late actor Christopher Reeve, became crusaders for spinal cord injury research after he became paralyzed.
NewsCenter 5’s Heather Unruh reported Wednesday that a promising treatment once used by Christopher Reeve is now available to people in Boston. It’s offering new hope to patients who may have once felt hopeless.
Richard Maloney was paralyzed in a swimming accident 20 years ago. He walked with crutches for the first time Wednesday. “All of a sudden, I was up, and doing it. It is really great. It’s exciting,” he said.
Bob Koniecko is hoping to walk on his own again, too. “They told me in no uncertain terms that I would never walk again,” he said.
It is becoming possible for some spinal cord injury patients to walk again thanks to Locomotor Training Therapy, which is available at Boston Medical Center. It’s partly funded by the Christopher Reeve Foundation. It is the same therapy Reeve was so excited about during his treatments that he pushed to make it available to as many people as possible.
“Many of the patients who have been treated at the centers have gone on to become good walkers with assistance, and some have actually gone on to walk without any assistance,” Boston Medical Center’s D. Williams said.
