Stem-Cell Trial Aimed at Spinal Cord Regrowth
A clinical trial that will test how embryonic stem cells affect the regrowth of spinal cord injuries may be getting the green light to go ahead early next year.
Movement toward giving the green light was signaled by a recent meeting of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee that discussed stem-cell research issues. The panel, which was composed of 25 independent scientists and FDA researchers, mulled over problems relating to proper stem-cell animal studies and how scientists can ensure that embryonic stem cells differentiate appropriately - that is, that they don't form teratomas (cancerous tumors formed of several different tissues, such as muscle, bone, cartilage and skin).
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Glimmer of Hope for Spine-Injury Victims
It's just in rats for now, but scientists have induced spinal cord regrowth by taking tiny nerves from the rib cage, bathing them in a growth-inducing protein, and then grafting them into the area of the cut spinal cord.
"By using tiny nerves from the rib cage as cables connecting the severed spinal cord, we were able to get some improvement in leg function," said Dr. Vernon Lin, a professor of physical medicine at the University of California at Irvine and director of the Spinal Cord Injury Group at the Long Beach Veterans Administration Medical Center.
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What is an Aneurysm?
WHAT IS AN AORTIC ANEURYSM?
With Dr.Sateesh Babu
Vascular Associates of Westchester
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FDA Approves Cervical Disc Implant Treatment
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the Prestige disc implant device to treat degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine. Medtronic has created the first artificial disc for insertion into the neck to allow a larger degree of movement than the traditional spinal fusion treatment. Medtronic has agreed to conduct a seven year study as part of the FDA approval agreement.
The company performed a clinical trial observing 541 patients receiving treatment for cervical degenerative disc disease comparing Prestige Cervical Disc to spinal fusion. The results found Prestige to have a greater degree of neurological success as well as fewer revision surgeries. The device is made of a stainless steel two-piece ball-and-trough configuration that functions like a joint and offers the greatest potential for neck mobility.
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ARTIFICIAL DISC TREATS LOWER BACK PAIN
Jumping off rooftops, running through burning buildings, crashing cars, it's all in a day's work for Jeff Gibson. "I did Batman movies, Robocop, Conspiracy Theory, War of the Worlds."
Some would call Hollywood stuntman, Jeff Gibson, a dare-devil adrenaline machine. In addition to performing life-threatening stunts as a livelihood, Jeff also skydives, races cars and scuba-dives. But, it wasn't on the movie set or on the race track that sparked Jeff's battle with excruciating back pain. It was a simple house chore.
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