News

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of the fifth edition of the Paralysis Resource Guide, a free 410-page book that helps families understand new spinal cord injuries and supports individuals as they pursue healthy, fulfilling lives.

The guide covers all aspects of life that may be affected by paralysis, including medical and health related concerns such as secondary conditions, seating and mobility considerations, and disability benefits and insurance.

Intravenous injection of bone marrow derived stem cells (MSCs) in patients with spinal cord injuries led to significant improvement in motor functions, researchers from Yale University and Japan report Feb. 18 in the Journal of Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery.

For more than half of the patients, substantial improvements in key functions — such as ability to walk, or to use their hands — were observed within weeks of stem cell injection, the researchers report. No substantial side effects were reported.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis, has partnered with Shepherd Center, a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury to introduce a new video series, Cultivating Resilience After Spinal Cord Injury Trauma. When an individual sustains a spinal cord injury (SCI), there is no one path for coping with the emotions and the adjustments that need to happen in one’s life. Many people have feelings of being lost, isolated and angry as they adapt to how best to navigate their changed lives.

The spinal cord is, quite literally, the central way in which the human body works. It is a key piece of the human puzzle, connecting the brain to the rest of the body via a massive network of nerves. The spinal cord can be damaged by multiple mechanisms including traumatic gunshot wounds, motor vehicle accidents, and falls, among others. When the spinal cord’s connection to the brain is interrupted due to a blood clot, that’s called a spinal cord stroke.

Craig H. Neilsen Foundation supports studies addressing the environmental barriers, chronic pain and racial disparities that affect individuals with spinal cord injury

EAST HANOVER, NJ. February 5, 2021. Kessler Foundation scientists received three spinal cord injury research grants from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation to ensure that researchers have the capacity to complete projects delayed by the pandemic. The grants, which total nearly $113,000, were awarded to Amanda Botticello, PhD, MPH, Denise Fyffe, PhD, and Jeanne Zanca, PhD, MPT, who conduct research in the Center for Spinal Cord Injury Research and the Center for Outcomes and Assessment Research.

Building An Inclusive World that Empowers People with Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders in Reaching Their Full Potential

United Spinal Association has reached a historic milestone as it celebrates 75 years of providing people with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) valuable programs and services that maximize independence and quality of life.

Chris Scott was falling towards the ground above Long Island, New York, when he realised that something was wrong.

An experienced skydiving instructor with around 6,000 jumps behind him, this should have just been another day at work. Strapped to Scott’s chest was a tandem jumper named Gary Messina, for whom the jump was an annual birthday tradition.

The inability to maintain blood pressure is a debilitating consequence of spinal cord injury. This problem has now been circumvented, by artificially recreating a reflex essential for blood-pressure stability.

Paralysis and sensory deficits are the most obvious consequences of spinal cord injury (SCI). But many people also experience orthostatic hypotension — an inability to maintain blood pressure when moving from lying to sitting or standing. In the short term, the condition can prevent normal filling of the heart with blood, and can cause light-headedness and dizziness.

A “neural bypass” routes signals around the damaged spinal cord, potentially restoring both movement and sensation

In 2015, a group of neuroscientists and engineers assembled to watch a man play the video game Guitar Hero. He held the simplified guitar interface gingerly, using the fingers of his right hand to press down on the fret buttons and his left hand to hit the strum bar. What made this mundane bit of game play so extraordinary was the fact that the man had been paralyzed from the chest down for more than three years, without any use of his hands. Every time he moved his fingers to play a note, he was playing a song of restored autonomy.

Using gene therapy, a research team has succeeded for the first time in getting mice to walk again after a complete cross-sectional injury. The nerve cells produced the curative protein themselves.

To date, paralysis resulting from spinal cord damage has been irreparable. With a new therapeutic approach, scientists from the Department for Cell Physiology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) headed by Professor Dietmar Fischer have succeeded for the first time in getting paralyzed mice to walk again. The keys to this are the protein hyper-interleukin-6, which stimulates nerve cells to regenerate, and the way how it is supplied to the animals.