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I think it was a good report, but perhaps it looked driven by the "status quo". We know the academc sistem and the FDA a...
by Paolo on Saturday, January 14, 2012
The HSPG-regeneration study is also supported by CDRF and was done in this lab:http://www.christopherreeve.org/site/apps...
by jaecia on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
If you missed here's the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7394380n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox
by Sam Maddox on Monday, January 09, 2012
So I watched it last night and lo and behold the segment was sponsered by LIPITOR.
by ROBERT on Monday, January 09, 2012
Yes, this story makes for good viewing, but it pales in comparison to the amount of useless and harmful treatments our F...
by ROBERT on Sunday, January 08, 2012
Page  of  Total Items: 143

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Spinal Cord Injury Research
The latest news and information about what's going on with SCI science and research.
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Friday, Febuary 17, 2012
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An interesting journal article came out a week or so ago about the regenerative power of a growth-promoting molecule called sonic hedgehog, shh for short. And yes, it was named for the classic Sega video game featuring the spiky blue Sonic running and jumping, collecting rings and forming into a ball to destroy the enemies. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Monday, Febuary 06, 2012
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 Here’s as look at research that targets chronic spinal cord injury: Recovery from chronic spinal cord contusion after Nogo receptor intervention, supported in part by the Reeve Foundation, from the Stephen Strittmatter lab at Yale.

Spinal cord injured animals recovered function with a treatment that didn’t start until two or three months after injury. In a mouse, that’s considered chronic. Indeed, in humans, 60 to 90 days is close to being chronic. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Friday, January 20, 2012
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Short legged dogs with long torsos are congenitally prone to spinal disc ruptures, often leading to paralysis. These intervertebral disc traumas are usually a combination of compressive and concussive forces that impinge upon the fragile tissues of the spinal cord, usually in the lumbar area. There may be ways to prevent paralysis if the rupture is detected (dogs might show pain of hind leg ataxia – the ‘drunken sailor’ walk). Treatment can include rest and confinement, or major surgery. But you’ve seen images of Dachshunds, Lhasa apsos, Pekinese or beagles with wheels at the hind legs. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Friday, January 06, 2012
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Stem cell fraud is alive and well. Tune in Sunday, January 8 -- CBS 60 Minutes will take on the subject again.

From CBS:
Stem Cell Fraud - Stem cells still have not proven to be the panacea many claimed they could be, yet the Internet is alive with stem cells for sale to treat incurable illnesses. Scott Pelley reports on one man offering to treat cerebral palsy who a respected stem cell researcher says could be endangering patients. Oriana Zill and Michael Rey are the producers.

This lays out the dirt on some despicable new scams but most certainly will also include an update on a very powerful report from 2010. In that case, called “21st Century Snake Oil,” a miscreant named Lawrence Stowe was nailed dead-to-rights for ripping off two men with ALS, promising them amazing recovery with stem cells.

Read or watch that original report here:

Well, Stowe is back in the news, and on the lam. He was indicted, along with 3 others – including a university professor -- in a new scam -- fake doctors, Mexican clinics, mail fraud -- to produce and market unproven stem cell therapies. This is from the LA Times, January 3:

Three men have been arrested and a fourth is being sought by the FBI in connection with what investigators say was a $1.5-million Texas-based scheme to illegally market and sell stem cell treatments to patients with terminal diseases.
 
The men were arrested over the last 10 days based on two indictments issued in November charging all four with 39 counts of mail fraud and unlawfully manufacturing, distributing and selling stem cells and stem cell procedures not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, according to the statement.
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One of the four, Vincent Dammai, 40, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., was a researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina who allegedly used university facilities to create stem cells without obtaining permission from the FDA.

Another, Francisco Morales, 52, of Brownsville, Texas, is charged with falsely claiming to be a medical doctor who operated a Brownsville clinic specializing in using stem cells to treat "incurable diseases." From 2007 into 2010, the statement said, Morales took patients across the border into Mexico for stem cell treatments that had not been reviewed or approved by the FDA.

Also charged is Alberto Ramon, 48, of Del Rio, Texas, a licensed midwife who allegedly obtained umbilical cord blood to create stem cells from his patients at a local maternity clinic. The blood was sold to a company in Scottsdale, Ariz., which then sent the tissue to Dammai, according to the statement.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a fourth man, Lawrence Stowe, 58, of Dallas. The indictment charges that Stowe, who sometimes referred to himself as "Dr. Larry Stowe," "marketed, promoted, and sold stem cells" for the treatment of several diseases through front companies, including the nonprofit Stowe Foundation, apparently founded in 2003.
 
Here’s a piece from the Houston Chronicle:

More information than you need, but here is the FBI statement.
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
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This research story really opens a brand new window on how the spinal cord works, or doesn’t work. A team led by Frank Bradke at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology has found a way to see inside a living cord. It’s a “a leap forward in regeneration research,” says the Institute. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Friday, December 23, 2011
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One of the most compelling spinal cord research stories of the past year centers on an enzyme called chondroitinase. Its primary target is chronic SCI – that in itself is big news since most SCI science has been about acute care and almost never about long-term injuries. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Thursday, December 15, 2011
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A couple of interesting research papers were published in the medical literature this week.

The first is from the lab of Zhigang He, of Harvard: “Sustained Axon Regeneration Induced by Co-deletion of PTEN and SOCS3.”  The article was published in Nature on-line last month but the print version came out Wednesday. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Thursday, December 08, 2011
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Last month we looked at a three-way combination treatment for spinal cord injury that formed a sort of detour around the injury site.

The group that performed that set of experiments has just published more combo-treatment results, this time adding the enzyme chondroitinase (ChABC, which degrades certain types of spinal cord scarring) along with NT-3 (a growth and survival factor, a sort of biological Miracle Gro) and NR2D expression (a way to genetically engineer the area of injury to activate a molecule related to growth and plasticity of axons). Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
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Wow. That’s it? Eighteen years in the stem cell trenches, millions in R&D, a big-time stem cell clinical trial in the works and sky-high expectations from patients and investors, and the plug is pulled? Just like that?

Can’t say it’s a complete surprise, having watched the Geron burn rate over the past few years. Last year, losses exceeded $110 million. So far in 2011, about $60 million. Totally unsustainable. But to just turn away from the whole field? Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
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A three-stage combination approach has been used to create a “detour” around a spinal cord injury lesion in an animal experiment. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Friday, November 04, 2011
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The role of nervous system helper cells called astrocytes continues to unfold. These cells, once thought to be inert as a sort of spacer for neurons, are now known to play a crucial role in response to nervous system injury. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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I was at Working to Walk (W2W) last week. That’s an annual gathering of “cure warriors.” Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
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This is a headline from October 13, 2003, almost exactly 8 years ago: Monkeys Control Robotic Arm With Brain Implants. Very cool story showcasing huge upside for neuro-control. The little primates moved a robotic arm, using their thoughts. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Thursday, October 06, 2011
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A team in New York transferred the DNA from a human skin cell (a somatic cell) into a human egg (oocyte) and derived a line of stem cells that resemble early stage embryos. Too soon for therapueutic use but quite promising and causing a stir in the stem cell world. Read More
Sam Maddox
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Posted by Sam Maddox
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
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October 5 is Stem Cell Awareness Day. Seems like a good time to update recent stem cell news, including new clinical trials. Read More
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