08/19/2008 Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan May Have Many Roles In Spinal Cord Injury Repair
The proteoglycan chondroitin sulfate (CSPG) plays an important role not
just in the formation of the glial scar but also in the repair of
spinal cord injury, according to an article released on August 18, 2008
in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine.
In injuries to the central nervous system such as spinal cord injury,
the glial scar is formed in a similar manner to scars in other parts of
the body. However, while protecting the damaged area in many ways, it
simultaneously releases chemicals that inhibit further regeneration.
08/18/2008 Diabetes and Spinal Cord Injury
People with spinal cord disorders are more prone than
most to developing type 2 diabetes. But the condition can be managed
and even reversed with diet, exercise and medications.
“You are diabetic.” No one wants to hear these words and
when they do, they are likely to be in shock or disbelief. “Sure,
I’m in a wheelchair, overweight and I don’t get much
exercise, but nobody in my family has diabetes,” may be a typical
response.
Surprisingly, genetics plays only a limited role in the development
of type 2 diabetes, but diabetes now afflicts almost 1 in 10 Americans
and a recent study showed that 2 in 10 spinal cord injured veterans are
diabetic.
08/14/2008 Though grouped together, quadri- and tetraplegics are different
Both quadri- and tetra- mean
four. Naturally, most people would think that a quadriplegic and
tetraplegic can't move any of their four limbs. But there's more to it
than that.The
National Spinal Cord Injury Association, among others, group
tetraplegia and quadriplegia together. That disturbs me because my
doctors always said that tetraplegia is a more severe spinal cord
injury than quadriplegia. On Jan. 12, 1993, my brain stem was contused
and spinal cord severed. My injury doesn't even involve any vertebrae.Quadriplegics that I've heard about only have their spinal cords damaged.
08/11/2008 New U.S. Medicare Policy Encourages Healthier Approach to Bladder Management and Catheter Use
Coloplast
supports critical change in catheter guidelines giving consumers
choices, cutting healthcare costs and reducing exposure to bacteria People using intermittent catheters no longer need to re-use their
catheters due to a new Medicare policy effective April 1, 2008. The
change affects nearly 1 million individuals living with spinal cord
injury, multiple sclerosis and spina bifida, as well as those who have
other permanent conditions requiring bladder management or experience
urinary incontinence or retention.
Catheter re-use may be a key contributor to urinary tract
infections. With approximately 10 million urinary tract
infection-related doctor visits each year, the Medicare change is
an important step in reducing healthcare costs through preventive care
and lowering patient risks related to urinary catheterization.
07/30/2008 Published Study Shows Oxycyte Successfully Reduces Oxygen Shortages in a Spinal Cord Injury Model
Few therapies have consistently demonstrated effectiveness in
preserving oxygen delivery after spinal cord injury (SCI). The
researchers measured oxygen levels in rats in two studies to establish
a dose response curve. The pressure of oxygen levels dissolved in the
blood in spinal cord injury showed a profound drop from 21.4 to 10.4
mm Hg almost immediately post injury. In the relevant experiment, all
animals that received Oxycyte combined with 100% oxygen showed
significant improvement, with a mean increase in oxygen levels of 23.3
mm Hg. Only one saline-treated animal in the control group showed any
benefit. Oxygen values in the group treated with Oxycyte reached up to
six times the normal level.
06/30/2008 A BACTERIAL PARTNERSHIP
Basically, antibiotic development became the cornerstone in the establishment of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). Like the hero in the Oscar-nominated movie Atonement, my great-uncle died due to infection from a wound he sustained charging a German machine-gun nest in World War I. If antibiotics had been available, he would have survived, and perhaps I would have met him.A decade later, future Nobel Laureate Alexander Fleming observed that bacterial growth was inhibited by a penicillin-generating mold. As a result of his discovery and the ensuing large-scale production of penicillin catalyzed by World War II's bloodshed, many soldiers wounded later in this war were able to live, including PVA founders. Since then, scientists have developed numerous antibiotics, which have greatly increased life expectancy after SCI.
06/26/2008 Bladder Cancer In Spinal Cord Injury Patients
Finally, University of California at Irvine investigators
retrospectively evaluated 32/1319 (2.4%) SCI patients who developed
bladder cancer that was detected a mean of 34 years (range 16-62)
following SCI.
> 50% of these patients had not been managed with an indwelling
Foley catheter. Current recommendation is surveillance cystoscopy every
10 years in SCI patients with indwelling catheters, but based on this
study, consideration of more diligent screening in all SCI patients
regardless of bladder management technique, was urged by the authors.
06/04/2008 New report shows locomotor training restores walking function in child with spinal cord injury
Central nervous system may be retrained, report led by physical therapist showsA new report shows that a non-ambulatory (unable to walk or stand)
child with a cervical spinal cord injury was able to restore basic
walking function after intensive locomotor training. The case study,
published in Physical Therapy (May 2008), the scientific journal of the
American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), evaluated the effects of
locomotor training in a 4 ½ year-old-boy, who had no ability to
walk following a gunshot wound sixteen months earlier.
05/03/2008 Varied therapies for spinal cord injury
There is no cure for a spinal cord injury, but much headway has been
made in clinical research that could lead to one. Other therapies have
helped to restore some function in spinal cord injured patients. A look
at some efforts:Cell-based therapies hold the potential
for replacing cells and restoring function lost to disease or injury.
Among those being developed to help treat spinal cord injuriesGene therapy carries the potential to provide the injured spinal cord
with the specific gene products, or proteins, that it needs to promote
functional recovery. Gene therapy is not a current treatment for spinal
cord injuries but is being studied with animal models of spinal cord
injury.
04/28/2008 Quick Decompression Aids Spinal Injury Recovery
Patients having
decompression surgery within 24 hours of a cervical spinal cord injury may
have a better outcome than those who have the procedure later, according
to new research.Surgical decompression of the spinal cord involves the removal of various tissue or bone fragments that are being squeezed and comprising the spinal cord. While commonly done after an injury occurs, the timing of the procedure varies widely.
The study looked at 170 patients with cervical spinal cord injuries,
graded as A (most several neurological involvement) to D (least severe),
who underwent decompression surgery.
