Every day, researchers are working hard to develop new therapies and treatments designed to treat symptoms, slow progression, and repair damage to the spinal cord. One of these treatments involves the use of stem cells.

Supporters and Detractors of Stem Cell Research

Because stem cells may have the potential to generate cells designed to replace or repair cells damaged by spinal cord injury, supporters feel it’s possible the benefits may far outweigh the negatives. Detractors of stem cell research focus on the moral and ethical dilemmas related to the fact that stem cells are harvested from embryos and fetal tissue. As a matter of fact, it’s difficult to turn on the television, flip through a magazine, or read the newspaper without encountering the controversy surrounding stem cell research and treatment.

The New Miracle Cure?

The jury is still out regarding whether stem cell treatment could be the miracle cure for spinal cord injury and paralysis. While scientists and researchers are hopeful, there just hasn’t been enough research to substantiate any particular result. Currently, most of the research on stem cells has been done on mice, which have significantly different cells than humans.

Human Trials

The political and moral debate surrounding stem cells continues to hamper research. There are also some legitimate concerns regarding the safety of stem cell research on human patients, including concerns related to the immune response to a cellular transplant. The biomedical company Geron received the green light to conduct the first human clinical trial of the treatment of spinal cord injury with embryonic stem cell transplants and drug therapy earlier in the year, but the process was recently halted by the FDA for unknown reasons.

We are pleased to share this guest post with our readers:

I’m Megan. I was born on May 6, 1985. I’m 23 years old and I am so thankful that I can say that. I nearly died when I was 22.

It was November 26, 2007. It was the night before Thanksgiving. My partner Shannon & I had been going through a rough financial time, but finally got back on our feet. So we decided to ask off work to visit my family in Charlotte for two days. Originally we had planned on just the two of us going the night before and having a romantic dinner out and then spending the holiday with the family. However, we learned that my sister had just recently gotten back together with her husband and we thought it would be nice to include them in our dinner since we didn’t get to see much of each other.

This soon turned into a dinner of seven because my step brother and his friend decided to come along, and so did my sister’s husband’s friend. At first the dinner was all kinds of awkward, because half of us didn’t even know the others. But, it wasn’t anything a little alcohol couldn’t fix. Soon, we were all laughing and joking and having a great time. The fun didn’t stop after dinner. We were having so much fun we decided to go next door to the pool hall. The alcohol didn’t stop there either.

It was around 9:30pm and we had a designated driver to get safely back to my parent’s house. My sister’s kids were being babysat by her husband’s dad, so we figured why not squeeze just a little more fun in there? We went back to their house to do some more drinking. While hanging out in their garage, we caught eye of the ATV. We thought it would be a good idea to hop on and ride it around the neighborhood a few times.

Shannon got on the back with me once, but was too scared so she decided not to ride it. Something you should probably know about Shannon is that she is not a risk taker. She’s more like a maternal nurturing person. She likes to play it safe and make sure everything is always okay. This night, she decided not to nag me because she knew it had been a while since we’d gotten out like this with no worries and didn’t want to ruin my fun. She stayed in the garage and chatted with the guys while I rode the ATV with my sister. We pulled back into the garage and turned it off and were ready to leave, when my sister and I decided to take it out one more time.

I remember driving it down the street. I remember my sister yelling “Slow down, Megan! You’re going too fast!” I remember U-turning to go back to the house. What I don’t remember is the wreck. All I can tell you is what Shannon and my family have told me, and try to piece it all together.

Here’s what Shannon says happened:

“I was talking to the guys in the garage, when Megan’s step brother (our designated driver) asked, ‘Do you guys hear that? It sounds like Katie yelling.’ Of course, we didn’t hear it because we were all too drunk. About 5 minutes later, he said ‘I’m going to go find out what’s going on.’ Then Megan’s sister’s husband decided to go check things out because he wasn’t back yet. I was still chatting it up and was just waiting for them to pull into the garage when the husband comes running up to us. He tells his friend to lock up his house that we had to go to the hospital. They’d been in a wreck. I laughed it off. I really had only known this guy one night, and the whole night he’d been joking around, so I thought he was kidding. When his eyes told me a different story, I knew something had gone terribly wrong.

I leaned out of the garage and peeked down the street. All I could see were ambulance lights. I cannot describe the feeling that overcame my body. I kicked off my 4 inch heels in the yard and started running with everything I had. ‘Megan, Megan, Megan, Megan’ that’s all that came out of my mouth with every single step. It was like the world stopped and everything was just swirling around me. I passed the ATV which was up against a tree. They were about 30 yards away, one on each side of the ditch. Katie was screaming ‘Help Me! I can’t breath!’ There were about 10 neighbors all standing around.

Megan was on her back surrounded by EMT. I leaped down on the ground next to her. She was lifeless. Her eyes were open but there was nobody inside. ‘Mam, you need to step back.’ Was all I was told. Nobody to tell me everything was going to be alright. I was barefoot, alone, cold, and scared to death. My everything was about to be nothing. How could I be the last one to know what happened? I could have stopped this from happening if I would have just told her to get off. I could have helped her if I was there sooner. This is my fault. The ride to the hospital was the worst ride of my life. Following those flashing lights knowing she was inside and I couldn’t ride with her, was the absolute worse feeling. Getting to the hospital and not being able to see her, was horrible. One second we were laughing and talking and hugging, and the next second, she’s gone.

I saw her being removed from the ambulance and I noticed all of her clothes were off. They had taken off her clothes. I felt so violated for her because I did not know at the time the extent of the injury. The EMT told me she was scared and drunk and she’d probably be fine. I waited for her to walk out of the ER room and come give me a great big hug. This never happened. When I finally got to see her, she looked like a corpse. She was purple, not talking, not moving. Was she going to die? That’s when the trauma doctor told me what had happened during the wreck. Her T-8 & T-9 vertebrae were wedged together. Her spine had been smashed. I had no idea what this meant because I had never had to deal with anything like this before and had no knowledge on the subject. ‘What does that mean?’ I asked him. ‘Is she going to be okay?’ I waited for his reply. When he cocked his head and scrunched his face I knew it wasn’t good.

‘She’s going to have a long hard road ahead of her. She smashed her spinal cord. She has no feeling or movement from here down.’ He pointed above her belly button. I didn’t know how to take this. I was thankful she was alive but I didn’t know what that meant for our lives. I went two rooms down to check on her sister. I first heard she had one broken rib. Then I heard she had two broken ribs. I eventually came to find out she had eight broken ribs (all of them), a broken shoulder blade, broken collar bone, and collapsed lung, all on the right side of her body. She had 2 children to care for at home. How could this have happened? What are we going to do? I have to be back at work the day after tomorrow and so does Megan. What’s going to happen? I ended up calling my boss, and getting as much time off as I needed (which happened to be a month). I still to this day cannot thank my boss enough.

The first two nights she had to stay in ICU to be stabilized. I had to spend Thanksgiving day without her. How could I eat? How could I sleep? How could I be enjoying the holiday knowing what she was going through in the hospital? Of course, she had no idea because she was basically in a coma for about a week. I just couldn’t eat knowing she couldn’t. I moved the food around on my plate and that was about it. I don’t even think I could cry anymore. I had shed so many tears in such a short amount of time my body was exhausted. This did me no good either, because I couldn’t sleep. After she finally got her own room I didn’t leave her side. I stayed in that hospital room 24/7. Sure she may not have spoken a word, or looked at me, or held my hand, but I was going to be there when she came out of it.”

That’s what Shannon has told me from day one. About a week later when I did come to, I had already had back surgery. My surgeon said it looked like someone took a sledge hammer and smashed my spinal cord on a table. They did testing and confirmed I was an ASIA A Complete. For those of you that don’t know, that means that I had no feeling, no movement, and my spinal cord was so damaged I most likely would not get any of it back. I did not see this as depressing. I try to look at life as positive as possible. It’s almost as if I already knew what had happened to me before being told. The first words to come out of my mouth that I still say to this day are “I don’t need to walk to love.” (more…)

With the interest generated by our recent seatback failure story regarding Alyssa’s traumatic brain injury (TBI), Rich Newsome has this followup video with beneficial information to share:

Erectile problems after a spinal cord injury (SCI) has been an issue for countless patients. To better understand this problem, there have been numerous studies addressing the problem from a variety of angles such as specific dysfunctions and the neurophysiology of erections.

If erectile dysfunction is a problem that you or someone you know is experiencing, then we hope the following clinical research will be of help.

The Wikipedia defines a penile erection as an “increased penile blood flow resulting from the relaxation of penile arteries and the smooth muscle of the corpus cavernosum. This response is mediated by the release of nitric oxide (NO) from nerve terminals and endothelial cells, which stimulates the synthesis of cGMP in smooth muscle cells. Cyclic GMP relaxes smooth muscle and increases blood flow to the corpus cavernosum.” The simplified version is that blood flows to the penis causing a rigid state also known as an “erection”.

The Journal of the American Paraplegia Society states that “the majority of spinal cord injured (SCI) men with upper motor neuron lesions have reflex erections. However, these erections are often not adequately sustained making it difficult if not impossible to have intercourse.” They go on to say that the majority of those with lower neuron lesions are unable to have erections at all.

There are a few different approaches to this problem. Penile implants are one possibility, and for some, work very well. The drawback to the implant is that it increases the risk for infection and there is the chance that it will erode through the skin. You can choose between two types - inflatable and semirigid and the procedure is done in just a couple of hours under either general or spinal anesthetic. Inflatable implants operated with a pump have the benefit of allowing the penis to fully relax while the semirigid, as its name implies, keeps the penis continuously in a partially “aroused” state and is the lesser used version. Implants are a good option if medication fails to work, as is often the case with those who have a SCI.

Vacuum devices create an erection by drawing blood into the penis. This cylindrical device is placed over the penis to pull blood into the tissue and a ring is put around the base to hold the blood in place. Also called a penis pump, this tool has been used successfully for many.

Intracavernous injections of papaverine and phentolamine are other options that can lead to prolonged erections. Papaverine is an opiate and has some side effects such as constipation, somnolence and vertigo. Phentolamine causes blood vessels to expand which increases blood flow to the needed area and has few side effects. Both of these drugs are administered through injection and the patient can be taught how to do it himself assuming he is physically able.

Medications such as sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra) and Tadalafil (Cialis) are orally administered drugs that have shown positive results in a variety of studies. The recommended dosage is once a day, though Cialis is known for having a longer lasting effect - up to 36 hours. All of these pills have the potential for some uncomfortable side effects. Back pain, muscle aches, headache, indigestion and a runny nose are the primary ones, though some patients have reported experiencing hearing loss.

If your main concern is being able to father a child, Mitch Tepper at Sexualhealth.com lists two methods for obtaining sperm if manual ejaculation fails - electroejaculation stimulation (EES) and penile vibratory stimulation (PVS). EES requires anesthesia as an electric probe is inserted into the rectum. This procedure stimulates the nerves that control ejaculation. PVS is a less invasive process where you apply a vibrator to the penis and it has the added benefits of being a home procedure and pleasurable. It is common to first try PVS and if that fails to produce results, then try EES.

This topic is seldom an easy one to discuss and many are hesitant to do so. Keep in mind that this problem is not only widespread among those with SCIs, but among the general male population. You are not alone and with so many options to try, there is a good chance of finding one that works well for you!

A.J. Gross, D.H. Sauerwein, J. Kutzenberger, R.-H. Ringert. Penile prostheses in paraplegic men. British Journal of Urology

Male Urology and Sexuality After Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Through a Narrative Book. Lombardi G.M.D., Macchiarella A. M.D, Celso M. M.D, Del Popolo G. M.D. Department of Neuro-urology Spinal Unit of Florence, Italy

Many find themselves caught up in a Monday afternoon daydream where they get to wake late and spend their afternoons with nothing better to do than watch their favorite TV program…and then the phone rings or the boss looks their way and they snap back into the reality of work.

What if this wasn’t your daydream? What if you were stuck at home, not because of some windfall of luck, but because employer after employer refused to hire you? For many disabled people, this is an all-too-real scenario.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 found that society has had a tendency to isolate and discriminate against those with disabilities by refusing them work, housing, education, health care and other vital services. Add to this physical barriers such as inaccessible workstations and unmodified entryways and the need for the ADA becomes apparent.

To prevent these discriminatory acts from continuing to happen, the ADA has set up certain provisions that protect qualified people against discrimination related to hiring, job advancement, discharge, compensation, training and other such employment rights and opportunities. This includes providing “reasonable” (meaning that the size of the company and its financial resources are taken into consideration) modifications to the workplace such as ramps, workstations and the location of necessary work tools.

Companies who fail to meet the ADA standards can be required to pay a fine, go to court or both. This process begins with a person who has experienced discrimination filing a claim to any United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) office within 180 days of the incident. If a reasonable settlement isn’t reached, then it is possible to file a lawsuit with the Federal court after receiving a “right-to-sue” letter from the EEOC.

While the ADA enforcement has helped to prevent and curtail workplace discrimination, there are still countless cases of disabled persons being turned down for work who believe it is due to their particular disability.

If you or anyone you know has questions regarding their own situation, here are some good resources:

EEOC field office locater: (800) 669-4000 (voice) & (800) 800-3302 (TTY)

ADA Accessibility Guidlines

According to a Washington Post article, scientists have figured out how to turn one type of adult stem cell into another. What makes this development even more interesting is that it wasn’t done in a petri dish - this change was created inside of a living animal.

This breakthrough will potentially lead to cures for currently un-fixable illnesses and injuries such as spinal cord injuries (SCI) while bypassing the ethical objections that are now hindering stem cell research.

Research on mice by Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) co-director Douglas A. Melton, and colleagues, found three molecular switches that were able to turn a common cell in the pancreas into one that can produce insulin. This has the potential to benefit people suffering from diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses.

Imagine being able to cure your illness or heal your body through the flip of a cell switch - a process that would save both time and money that is currently spent on drugs and other ongoing therapies.

“I see no moral problem in this basic technique,” said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a leading opponent of embryonic stems cell research. “This is a ‘win-win’ situation for medicine and ethics.”

While researchers warn that “many years of research lay ahead” before they will be able to prove that this innovation will be of use for curing disease and injuries, it is another big step made by science towards creating health and longevity.

As of today this study hasn’t been posted on the HSCI Website, but for those interested, here is the HSCI list of research projects.

Click here for the original article.

The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 207 “specifies strength requirements for automotive seats and their attachment assemblies, so as to minimize the possibility of their failure by forces acting on them as a result of vehicle impact.”

While this standard helps to regulate how well a seat structure performs in an accident, it has failed to significantly decrease injuries and fatalities due to seatback failure. Alyssa’s story is one of many such devastating tales.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety lists 2006 as their most recent year of fatality statistics. There were 1,327 deaths caused by rear impact motor vehicle accidents. The majority of fatalities were under the age of 25, with crashes causing one of every three injury-related deaths among children under 13.

Of these numbers, it is unclear exactly how many death were a result of seatback failures, but what is clear is that auto crashes are a significant cause of life ending or altering injuries in children. What is tragic is the lack of governmental oversight, or seemingly interest, in how often seats fail with catastrophic results.

We have numerous reports on air bag related injuries, but no hard data on seat failures and the resulting injuries. A study for The Los Angeles Times by Keith Friedman, an auto safety researcher, analyzed 72 rear-end collisions using a government database of tow-away crashes, found that from 1988 to 1997 1,800 backseat passengers were injured or killed by seat failures.

What we need are more researchers willing to invest the time into this important subject. Data on which cars have a history of seat collapse and which ones are best known to withstand a rear impact needs to be better available to the public. This topic isn’t a new one - auto safety engineers have been issuing warnings on this subject since the 1950s.

The FMVSS 207 was adopted back in 1968 and other than adding vans, trucks and buses in 1972, there hasn’t been an update in its standards since. FMVSS 207 requires that a seat back be capable of handling an impact of 270 foot/lbs. Now compare that number to the 6,000 lbs. of force that seat belts are required to withstand before failure. Why would the seat only need to be four or five percent as strong as the seat belt?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is well aware of the problem and in 1996 actually admitted that the current standard was inadequate…this didn’t lead to any changes, only further recognition of the problem in 1997 and 1998. One of the reasons they are dragging their heels is over the concern that stiffer seatbacks will lead to more incidents of whiplash.

Compare a whiplash injury with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that leads to permanent disability or death - which one would you chose?

For now, research into the car you own or are looking to buy is the best offensive you can take to keep you and your passengers safe. One Website with some information, though not nearly enough regarding seat failures, is Safecar.gov. Until we see higher seatback safety standards, we will continue to hear of tragic stories such as Alyssa’s. We need to write to NHTSA, to our local government and to our automobile manufacturers. These issues need to be resolved for the safety of all vehicle occupants.

Youthful energy sometimes runs too high - resulting in fistfights, brawls, scuffles…and this energy isn’t limited to teenagers. Whether boxing for entertainment or out of anger, people need to be aware of how much damage a simple-seeming punch can cause.

Whatever the impetus, one hit to the wrong place can cause serious, permanent damage. An impact to the head can have unseen consequences, with memory problems and impaired cognitive functioning showing up long after the initial incident. It’s not just the force of hand to head that’s dangerous, it’s also the fall that the person may take after being knocked about.

A 2007 study from the American Academy of Neurology, tittled Does Amateur Boxing Cause Brain Damage?, focused on brain damage indicators such as high levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of neuronal and glial markers in the brains of amateur boxers. They found that there was four times the level in boxers compared to healthy non-athletes.

Considering that boxers make a living at a sport where the head is regularly impacted, this study has some potential application. There are a variety of opinions and even studies that try to either prove or disprove the lasting effects of a concussion - whether or not it can cause permanent brain damage. As with most topics we discuss here, we aren’t stating that this scenario is the absolute “for sure” one, but that prevention makes a world of difference.

You may not typically be an angry person, but perhaps the knowledge that one strong punch or even slap can cause brain damage will stay your hand when you are close to losing it. Perhaps bringing awareness of the potential for life-long damage will encourage youth to think twice before engaging in “friendly” boxing. Awareness - it’s a start!

Image from Beavis and Butthead.