By Daily Mail Reporter PUBLISHED: 12:03 EST, 4 September 2012 | UPDATED: 02:38 EST, 5 September 2012 Patients with broken spines have reported having feeling restored to areas that had previously been paralysed, after receiving stem cell injections. Scientists said they were 'encouraged' after two of three patients injected with donated foetal brain tissue responded to treatment at Balgrist University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Each patient had around 20million neural stem cells delivered directly into their injured spinal cords between four and eight months after they were injured. Early tests suggest stem cells could restore feeling to people with damaged spinal cords Before the treatment none of the patients could feel anything below the nipples. Just three months after therapy two of the patients reported feeling some sensation. By six months they could detect both touch and heat between the chest and belly button. The third patient detected no changes. Stephen Huhn, vice president of StemCells in Newark, California, that is developing the treatment told the New Scientist: 'The face we've seen responses to light touch, heat and electrical impulses so far down in two of the patients is very unexpected. 'They're really close to normal in those areas now … Continue reading →

SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Korean researchers, reporting the results of a major study in the Circulation Journal, found that the transplantation adipose (fat) derived stem cells resulted in the regeneration of blood vessels in patients who were otherwise expecting to receive limb amputations due to damaged arteries and lack of blood circulation. Researchers at Pusan National University, led by Dr. Han Cheol Lee, describe how patients with critical limb ischemia (hereafter, CLI, example of which include Buerger's Disease and diabetic foot ulcers) were injected with adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell manufactured by RNL BIO. As a result of the remarkable adipose stem cell process of RNL BIO, researchers found that immediate new blood vessel generation was identified. (The title of article is "Safety and Effect of Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cell Implantation in Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia") CLI results from lack of circulation due to small artery damage and subsequent tissue necrosis. Patients with severe CLI often face limb amputation. Buerger's Disease, or diabetic foot ulcer, are of the same kind. Risk factors are diabetic mellitus, hypertension, high cholesterol and smoking. There is no known cure to date. Currently percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or PTA may treat 60-70% … Continue reading →

- Prepares for Fourth Quarter 2012 European launch of eTNS, its non-invasive treatment for epilepsy and depression LOS ANGELES, September 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroSigma, Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical device company, announced today that it received CE Certification for its external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (eTNS) system, called the Monarch, for the adjunctive treatment of epilepsy and major depressive disorder, for adults and children 9 years and older. NeuroSigmas approval was supported by years of safety and compelling efficacy data generated in clinical trials conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Southern California (USC). (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120905/LA68181 [http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120905/LA68181]) The eTNS system will be sold under prescription from a physician in the European Union (EU). It is composed of an external pulse generator and disposable electric patches placed on the forehead that are replaced daily. The patches can be worn primarily in the evening while asleep. In clinical studies, eTNS was well tolerated and has been shown to substantially reduce seizures in patients with epilepsy and improve mood in patients with depression. Planning is underway for the introduction of this treatment at major EU epilepsy and depression centers. NeuroSigma is establishing a marketing, sales, and distribution … Continue reading →

FRIDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- People who don't kick their smoking habit after having a stroke have a threefold increased risk of death within a year, a new study warns. The investigators also found that the sooner stroke survivors start smoking again, the greater their risk of death within one year. In the study, Italian researchers looked at 921 patients who were regular smokers before they suffered an ischemic stroke, which is caused by a lack of blood flow to the brain. All of the patients attended smoking-cessation counseling sessions while in the hospital and said they were motivated to remain smoke-free once they left the hospital. No nicotine replacement therapy or other smoking cessation help was provided to the patients after they were discharged from the hospital. The patients reported their smoking status at one, six and 12 months after leaving the hospital. By the end of the first year, 53 percent of them had resumed smoking. Older patients and women were most likely to begin smoking again, the study found. Within one year, 89 patients had died. That works out to a one-year probability of death of 9.6 percent. After adjusting for a number of other factors, … Continue reading →

News 12 This Morning/ Wednesday, August 5th, 2012 AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Stroke is the leading cause of death in the United States according to the CDC. Strokes can affect anyone and right now there is only one type of stroke therapy approved by the FDA. Researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University are trying to change that with a new experimental type of stroke therapy. Right now TPA is the drug approved by the FDA for stroke therapy, but researchers say that doing something as simple as compressing your leg could help reduce the stroke size and damage by about 50%. Robert Sapp, 60, had a stroke Tuesday morning. "I got up and I couldn't breathe," he said. "I lost my equilibrium. Fell in the kitchen and my wife heard me." He was able to get to the hospital near his home in Dublin quickly receiving treatment from Dr. David Hess at GHSU through telestroke. "They called me about 5 in the morning [and] I got on. We have a telestroke system that's Internet based so I went to my porch, saw him, saw his scan, talked to him and talked to the doctors and we gave TPA," said Dr. Hess, … Continue reading →

By Stephanie Stahl PHILADELPHIA (CBS) A Philadelphia woman is the first to get a new FDA-approved life saving stroke treatment. 3 On Your Side Health Reporter Stephanie Stahl has more on the technology. Every four minutes, someone in the United States dies from a stroke. Now, local doctors say a tiny new device can prevent these deaths in minutes. Elisa Kahn, of Philadelphia, is happy to be alive, walking with her kids by her side. Just a few weeks ago, the 51-year-old suffered a stroke. I couldnt feel my left side, couldnt move my left side. My speech was extremely slurred, said Elisa. A clot was blocking blood flow to the right side of Elisas brain. It was quickly treated by neurosurgeon Dr. Erol Veznedarogl, with Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton. He inserted a new device called the Trevo through Elisas leg and into her brain. So the second this comes out, Ive restored blood flow to the brain, describes Dr. Veznedaroglu. This video from Stryker, the maker of the device, shows how a delicate mesh stent expands through the clot, allowing blood to flow immediately. It saved her life. Without question, this device saved her life, said … Continue reading →