Snowmobiler Colten Moore suffered a spinal cord injury attempting a double backflip at the X Games last month. The seven-time snowmobile X Games medalist from Texas was rushed to an Aspen hospital Jan. 29, after overrotating the trick, which would have been the first in X Games history. The 27-year-old then was flown to a Denver hospital, where surgeons performed emergency surgery on his back to repair a dislocated T-12 vertebra. But the dislocation bruised his spinal cord. Daniel Petty, The Denver Post Moore, whose brother Caleb suffered a fatal injury during a snowmobile freestyle contest at the X Games in 2013, has been up and walking with the help of his care team, according to a statement released Tuesday. However, due to the injuries suffered, there are some complications and hell need to go to a rehabilitation center specializing in spinal cord injuries. Unfortunately, the costs involved with such a rehabilitation center are extremely high and insurance will not agree to send him to the private facility, readthe release from the Road 2 Recovery Foundation, which has set up a website seeking donations to help fund Moores recovery. Colten has a great team of rehab specialists waiting for him … Continue reading →

The 2017 Australian of the Year award went to Professor Alan Mackay-Sim for his significant career in stem cell science. The prize was linked to barbeque-stopping headlines equating his achievements to the scientific equivalent of the moon landing and paving the road to recovery for people with spinal cord injuries. Such claims in the media imply that there is now a scientifically proven stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury. This is not the case. For now, any clinic or headline claiming miracle cures should be viewed with caution, as they are likely to be trading on peoples hope. Why stem cells for spinal cord injury? Put simply, injury to the spinal cord causes damage to the nerve cells that transmit information between the brain and the rest of the body. Depending on which part of the spine is involved, the injury can affect the nerves that control the muscles in our legs and arms; those that control bowel and bladder function and how we regulate body temperature and blood pressure; and those that carry the sensation of being touched. This occurs in part because injury and subsequent scarring affect not just the nerves but also the insulation that surrounds … Continue reading →

Greg Iger/Keck Medicine of USC Kristopher Boesen, who broke his neck in a car accident, regained the ability to move his arms and hands after his spinal cord was injected with stem cells. Two years after having a stroke at 31, Sonia Olea Coontz remained partially paralysed on her right side. She could barely move her arm, had slurred speech and needed a wheelchair to get around. In 2013, Coontz enrolled in a small clinical trial. The day after a doctor injected stem cells around the site of her stroke, she was able to lift her arm up over her head and speak clearly. Now she no longer uses a wheelchair and, at 36, is pregnant with her first child. Coontz is one of stem-cell therapy's miracle patients, says Gary Steinberg, chair of neurosurgery at Stanford School of Medicine in California, and Coontz's doctor. Conventional wisdom said that her response was impossible: the neural circuits damaged by the stroke were dead. Most neuroscientists believed that the window for functional recovery extends to only six months after the injury. Stem-cell therapies have shown great promise in the repair of brain and spinal injuries in animals. But animal models often behave differently … Continue reading →