(Press-News.org) NEW ORLEANS — Research released today demonstrates how new scientific knowledge is driving innovative treatments for spinal cord injuries. Spinal cord damage is debilitating and life-altering, limiting or preventing movement and feeling for millions worldwide, and leading to chronic health conditions and pain. The new studies suggest potential therapies for managing the aftermath of pain and pressure sores, repairing nervous system damage, and speeding recovery. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
In the United States, approximately 12,000 people are hospitalized for spinal cord injury (SCI) each year, and at least 270,000 people live with it. The initial injury is usually compounded by a wave of immune activity that can extend the initial nervous system damage, and complications of SCI may include pain and pressure sores that compromise the quality of life. New research is tackling all of these dimensions of SCI.
Today's new findings show that:
Nervous system tracts that are left intact but nonfunctioning following SCI appear to be reactivated through deep brain stimulation, speeding recovery of walking in a rodent model (Brian Noga, PhD, abstract 678.12, see attached summary).
Painful and sometime life-threatening pressure sores due to immobilizing nervous system injuries may be prevented by underwear wired to deliver tiny electrical currents that contract the paralyzed buttocks muscles, mimicking the natural fidgeting of able-bodied people (Sean Dukelow, MD, PhD, abstract 475.09, see attached summary).
Carbon monoxide's anti-inflammatory effects appear to accelerate healing in rats with spinal cord injury, possibly by altering the balance of immune cells and limiting the damage caused by molecules called free radicals (Yang Teng, MD, PhD, abstract 450.11, see attached summary).
Social contact appears to lessen the pain that follows peripheral nerve injury. A new mouse study correlates the healing social behavior with biochemicals in the brain and spinal cord (Adam Hinzey, abstract 786.04, see attached summary).
"While the damage of SCI can appear to be immediate and dramatic, the biological events that lead to extensive nerve and tissue damage are complex, and injuries evolve over time," said press conference moderator Jacqueline Bresnahan, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, an expert on nervous system trauma caused by spinal cord injuries. "Today researchers are finding ways to intervene in the cascade of molecular changes that follow SCI. From understanding immune cell responses to the healing power of social contact, researchers are finding new ways to treat and rehabilitate patients."
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This research was supported by national funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, as well as private and philanthropic organizations.
Todd Bentsen, (202) 962-4086
Press Room, Oct. 13-17: (504) 670-4630
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NEW ORLEANS — New animal studies provide additional support for investigating stem cell treatments for Parkinson's disease, head trauma, and dangerous heart problems that accompany spinal cord injury, according to research findings released today. The work, presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health, shows scientists making progress toward using stem cell therapies to repair neurological damage.
The studies focused on using stem cells to produce neurons ...
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Tropical Storm Maria was born in the western North Pacific Ocean and has a large area of moderate rainfall, as NASA's TRMM satellite revealed today, Oct. 15. NASA's TRMM satellite noticed that most of Maria's rainfall was occurring northeast of the storm's center. Maria is the twenty-third tropical cyclone of the western North Pacific season.
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Paul formed on Oct. 13 at 5 p.m. EDT about 660 miles (1,065 km) south-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California, near 14.0 North and 113.6 West.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible ...
While the Leeward Islands continue to get battered by Tropical Storm Rafael, a Tropical Storm Watch is posted for Bermuda as Rafael continues to move through the eastern Atlantic Ocean. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Rafael on Oct. 14 and noticed the bulk of showers and thunderstorms were being pushed north and east of the storm's center.
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The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Anais off Madagascar on Oct. 15 at 0940 UTC (5:40 a.m. EDT) and revealed an eye. Multi-spectral satellite imagery showed that convection has continued to decrease around Anais' ragged ...
Typhoon Prapiroon has been meandering in the western North Pacific Ocean over the weekend of Oct. 13 and 14, and NASA's TRMM satellite was able to identify where the strongest rainfall was occurring in the storm.
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