SAN DIEGO The UC San Diego Health System put out a call Monday for eight spinal cord injury patients to take part in a five-year test of the safety of a new treatment involving neural stem cells. The researchers are looking for people who suffered an injury to the middle or lower levels of the spines thoracic vertebrae between one and two years ago. According to UCSD, the injury must be between the seventh and 12th thoracic vertebrae. The goal of this study is to evaluate the safety of transplanting neural stem cells into the spine for what one day could be a treatment for spinal cord injuries, said Dr. Joseph Ciacci, the studys principal investigator and a neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System. The studys immediate goal, however, is to determine whetherinjecting these neural stem cells into the spine of patients with spinal cord injury is safe. The doctors also want to know how long the transplanted stem cells will last, and whether drugs designed to prevent rejection by the immune system are effective, according to UCSD Health. The researchers will also look for possible changes in motor and sensory function, bowel and bladder function, and pain levels. … Continue reading →

An injection of stem cells into the brains of recent stroke victims might help their long-term recovery, according to a promising but preliminary study out of the United Kingdoms Imperial College London. A strokes occurs when there is an interruption or reduction of blood flow to the brain. The particular stem cells used in this treatment could, in theory, encourage the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, as the BBC explained. Blood vessel growth could help patients suffering from a severe stroke regain the ability to walk, talk and take care of themselves to a greater degree, and with greater speed, than previously possible during recovery. But again, this is just a preliminary study a guide for researchers to a potential new path for stem-cell based stroke treatments. Working on the hypothesis that this approach mighthave an effect on more recent stroke cases, researcherstreatedpatients within a week of their strokes. The stroke patients in the pilot study demonstrated signs of recovery over a six-month period after treatment. But the small study of just five patients did not demonstrate whether that improvement came from the therapy or from the hospital care the stroke patients also received during the six-month … Continue reading →