The Derby City Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Network- Serving Kentuckiana.
Message From the President
Dear Members & Friends-
August's meeting will be held at Frazier Institute, 220 Abraham Flexnor Way, Louisville, in the 10th floor dining room at 6:30 p.m. To date we do not have a speaker scheduled. We hope to have one scheduled at meeting time, but will show a video presentation in the event that one is not scheduled. Refreshments will be provided.
September's meeting will be our annual picnic. Details forthcoming in next issue.
October's meeting will be held at Frazier Institute, 220 Abraham Flexnor Way, Louisville, 10th floor dining room, at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments will be provided.
- David Allgood
From the Internet– editor
RADIATION THERAPY / MICROSURGERY PROMISING FOR INJURED SPINAL CORD
Research on rats with crushed spinal cords, similar to human injury, reveals that treatment soon after injury combining radiation therapy to destroy harmful cells and microsurgery to drain excess fluids significantly increases the body's ability to repair the injured cord, leading to permanent recovery from injury, according to the study published in PLoS One. Since repair of damaged cord directly correlates with prevention of paralysis, this research demonstrates that conventional clinical procedures hold promise for preventing paralysis from spinal cord injuries. Currently there is no cure for human spinal cord injury. Treatment after injury is largely limited to steroids administered to prevent further deterioration. "This research opens the door to developing a clinical protocol for curing human spinal cord injuries using conventional therapies," said lead searcher
researcher Nurit Kalderon, Ph.D. The research, which was conducted at Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in NY City, was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
The hallmark of spinal cord injury is progressive tissue decay at the damage site. Kalderon's previous research indicated that the spinal cord is able to repair itself in the early days after injury but it is thwarted in its efforts during the second or third week by certain cells that block the repair process.
In earlier research on rats with cords that were completely severed, Kalderon was able to show that radiation therapy, similar to that used in cancer treatment, given localized at the Lesion site during the third week following injury helped the spinal cord heal itself by eliminating the cells that interfere with its natural repair processes. The research established a connection between the body's ability to repair the wounded cord and recovery of Motor function. Once the wound was healed, the severed brain-cord fibers could grow across the legion site, restoring the connection between the brain and spinal cord, with resulting restoration of control of the brain over muscle function.
In the current research, scientists made a severe crush injury, similar to a human contusion/fracture injury, in spinal cord of adult rats just below the waist. In crush injuries, tissue decay is exacerbated by the secondary damage caused by massive swelling as fluids build up from the injured blood
