Four men are “wheeling” across Canada with the use of hand cycles in order to bring awareness and generate donations to research for conditions such as concussive head injury and Alzheimer’s. They believe that a donation of 30 cents by each Canadian citizen for “breakthrough” research will allow them to walk again.

This research comes from a Canadian research team at McMaster University in Hamilton. Dr. Michel Rathbone and Dr. Shucui Jiang successfully regenerated nerves in the chronically damaged spinal cords of rats with the use of adult enteric glia cells. These cells are abundant in human and animal intestines and have been found to support the nervous system.

The enteric glia cells were grown in cell cultures and then transplanted into the rat’s spinal cords where they stimulated nerves to grow, reducing the damage in the spinal cord. These cells are not only stable, they have bypassed the problem of tissue rejection by the host. In addition, this team of scientists found that a naturally occurring molecule in the body, guanosine, stimulates stem cells already present in the spinal cord to grow and develop into cells that insulate the nerve processes.

Even more interesting, this medical approach and application can be used on other diseases as well, including those of the brain.

To progress beyond animal testing, the researchers need support. You don’t have to be Canadian to pitch it - visit Wheel to Walk for more information!

Finally, a benefit from those love handles, pot bellies and beer stomachs! Scientists found that fat taken from the inner thigh and lower abdomen was rich in stem cells. This study, reported in August’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal, is the first of its kind to pinpoint a variation between stem cell concentrations in different portions of the body’s fat stores.

We already know that stem cells have huge potential for repairing injuries, but we also know that there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the use of embryo stem cells, the ones with the most plasticity. With the discovery of a plentiful source of adult stem cells, there is an increased potential for studying how these valuable resources can be applied to healing spine injuries, repairing bones, eradicating diseases such as cancer…all without the censor of those against embryonic stem cell research.

Of course, this journal is more concerned with the ways in which these cells can be used to benefit the plastic surgery industry. They would like to find ways to erase wrinkles and generate new tissue for their procedures, and who are we to argue? If the search for eternal youth unearths valuable resources that will help those who are trying to recover from a spinal cord injury, then we are all for it!

Scientists are exploring the ways in which your body’s sugars can be used to “create stem cell treatments for heart disease and nerve damage” according to a recent University of Manchester study.

As those with a spinal cord injury know well, nerve damage is hard if not impossible to completely recover from. This avenue of exploration may come up with some beneficial applications, making it easier for the body to repair that damage.

The sugars that our bodies produce instruct cells on “who” and what they are - what their function is in relation to the cells around them. Dr. Catherine Merry from The School of Materials in Manchester has been given a grant to figure out how cells make sugar and how that sugar influences cell behavior.

If Merry can determine how to make certain cells produce specific sugars, she can then train them to mend nerve damage along with other helpful applications. Keep an eye out for more research from the Materials Science Centre at the University of Manchester. With a major laboratory upgrade, this center is prepared to lead the way in cutting edge research covering everything from stem cells to molecular biology.

Q: Since my spinal cord injury, I have been living with chronic pain and my doctors have been unable to figure out what’s causing it. Why is it so hard to pinpoint?

A: Chronic pain is often difficult to find one specific cause for due to a combination of factors. First, patients who suffer from chronic pain, no matter what the initial injury was, often also experience anxiety and depression. These two strong emotions not only interfere with a proper diagnosis, but contribute to the pain.

One theory is that an injury causes increased nervous activity that transmits pain from the spinal cord to the brain, damaging the nerve circuits it passes through. These circuits amplify the pain beyond what the physical injury would seem to suggest.

The idea being considered by researchers is that these “pain amplifying circuits” have become self-sustaining. If this is the case, the next step is to figure out if they can be turned off or at least dialed down. We don’t have the answers yet, but at least there is some comfort in the knowledge that scientists are working on a solution.

Free-floating spinal decompression may just be what you need for back pain relief.

Dr. Kendall Gearhart is one of the first chiropractors in the country to be trained in free-floating spinal decompression (FFSD). What makes this treatment worth noting is that it depends on gravity to separate your lumbar spine from the lower part of your body instead of the traditional use of a prone machine to do the work.

The patient is strapped into a machine that restrains your upper body while the the chair you are sitting in is lowered and eventually removed. This stretches the back while gravity decompresses your spinal cord. This procedure is safe to use on people who were unable to have a traditional decompression performed - those with back fusions.

FFSD has no side effects and is said to relieve pain in seven out of ten patients. Most insurances won’t cover this treatment, so if you are going to consider it an option, be prepared to pay upwards of a thousand dollars per series of treatments.

In a recent article on PhysOrg.com, MIT researchers are spotlighted for finding stem cells in the spinal cord that may be able to be pushed to turn into healing cells instead of scarring cells. This would help with the development of non-surgical treatments for spinal cord injuries (SCI).

The stem cells under consideration are called ependymal cells. On their own they are slow to proliferate and promote regeneration on their own, but when grown in a lab they have been found to restore some degree of function in paralyzed rodents and primates.

According to the article, the ependymal cells migrate to the injured area of the spine, producing a mass of scar-forming cells along with beneficial healing cells called oligodendrocytes. The oligodendrocytes produce myelin, a nerve coating of sorts that helps to insulate nerves, helping their function to improve.

If you want to read the original study, check out the July issue of PLoS Biology. The article is by Konstantinos Meletis.

Late last week the Allen Institute for Brain Science revealed its Allen Spinal Cord Atlas. The atlas is the world’s first genome-wide map of the mouse spinal cord. This information will give researchers immediate access to a wealth of free online data that can be applied to spinal cord injury treatment.

According to their press release, there is close to one-quarter of a million Americans who have suffered from a spinal cord injury. With this new map, researchers are able to study diseases and disorders in humans as we share 90 percent of the same genes as mice.

When complete, this atlas will contain an estimated 20,000 genes from both youth and adults. For more information, you can read the press release here.

Lee Sang-ho with Wooridul Spine Hospital is involved with the creation of a “less painful and more effective” spinal disc treatment through “minimally invasive” spinal surgery.

Lee eschews the usual method of back surgery which involves cutting into the back through skin, muscle, nerves and bone in order to reach the spinal discs. The discs, composed of a jelly-like fibers, are nestled between the vertebrae which they hold together, much like ligaments. When they are damaged in an accident, they can cause a great deal of pain to the injured person.

The method that Lee uses involves creating tiny holes through which he inserts a needle and moves aside organs in order to reach the disks. This greatly minimizes damage to the surrounding tissue. He claims that it’s both effective and has a smaller risk of infection, though requires greater accuracy than other SCI procedures.

For more information about this procedure, visit the Wooridul Website.

Click here for the Korea Times article.

With the increasing number of research programs focusing on stem cell research and their application to brain injury and spinal cord injury, today’s facts will help you understand why they are so useful.

Stem cells are basically blank cells that, in most cases, have the ability to become a variety of other cells. They are found in bone marrow, blood, the brain, skeletal muscle, fat and even the skin. While the main controversy exists over embryonic stem cells as they have the ability to become just about any cell, we are still able to utilize adult stem cells in a handful of useful ways.

The idea is that scientists can, with the right research, learn to program stem cells to become new spinal cord tissue or new brain tissue, repairing damage that right now, is irreversible. With more studies coming to light regarding the useful application of adult stem cells, we will hopefully see a day when researchers and anti-stem cell research advocates can find a common ground. In the meantime, keep reading. New applications are being discovered all the time!

Sue Leger, the director of CenterIMT Atlanta in Fayetteville, Georgia is asserting that a combination of hands-on therapy with laser healing, electrical stimulus, diet and exercise has the ability to “reverse severe spinal cord injuries.” This combination therapy is called Integrative Manual Therapy (IMT) and was developed by Dr. Sharon Giammatteo.

Leger has a doctorate in spinal cord injuries from Westbrook University and has applied it to helping “no hope” SCI patients recover. She maintains that dozens of patients in this category were able to regain control over their bodily functions as well as walk and drive in many cases.

IMT works to address both pain and disability by looking for their cause, then practitioners use their hands to “feel the body’s circadian biologic rhythms and movements…” By circadian rhythm, they are referring to the body’s natural cycles such as the heart’s beat.

After finding the cause, they proceeded to work towards healing the client through the address of everything from circulation and psychological problems to physiological systems such as hormones and sleep cycles. IMT is an interesting and holistic approach to pain management and spinal cord healing. For some case studies, click here.

If you or anyone you know has had experience with this therapy, we’d love to hear from you!