injuries

Gene therapy converts dead bone graft to new, living tissue

...d to eventually aid people with various cancers or injuries whose treatment involves the replacement of large sections of bone. Cancers such as osteosarcoma, one of the most common types of bone cancers, or tumors that occur adjacent to bones, often must be treated by removing the diseased section of bone and...

First real-time view of developing neurons reveals surprises, say Stanford researchers

...ns forming. What's more, any cure for spinal cord injuries will require new neurons to form the appropriate connections. ...

Brain-injury rehabilitation depends on acetylcholine circuitry

...d help enhance rehabilitation to recover from such injuries by leading to the development of drugs or other treatments to enhance the "cholinergic system." The researchers said that their finding that the cholinergic system is involved in brain recovery is particularly intriguing in light of the fact that de...

Double triumph in stem cell quest

..., with a variety of conditions ranging from spinal injuries to an inherited immune condition. The work proves that matching ESCs can be derived via therapeutic cloning from donors of any age and sex. "This is an enormous stride in the long journey to determine whether nuclear-transfer-derived human embryonic...

Doctors closer to using gene analysis to help trauma patients

...y of patients who experience severe trauma or burn injuries actually do well,?said Lyle Moldawer, a surgery pr... at Washington University in St. Louis. Traumatic injuries claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year in the United States. In addition, millions of patien...

Brain May Be Less Plastic Than Hoped

...In children, the brain's ability to compensate for injuries is well known. Children with severe epilepsy who l...udying brain reorganization is difficult. Cortical injuries are not happening in a controlled fashion, and resulting data consequently are difficult to interpre...

Gene keeps neural cells on correct developmental path

...earch aimed at understanding repairing spinal cord injuries or replacing malfunctioning brain cells in neurodegenerative diseases. It may also provide insights into other diseases, such as small cell lung cancer, which mistakenly make neuronal proteins, or neurological syndromes, where neuronal proteins produ...

Fox Chase study shows that weakened T-cell receptor signals change T-cell lineage

... mice unable to make delta-gamma T cells heal skin injuries more slowly. "Immune surveillance, the body mechanism that detects potential cancers and destroys them before their presence is evident to us, may be one function of the delta-gamma lineage, since gamma-delta T cells appear to be particularly adept ...

Stem cell treatment improves mobility after spinal cord injury

... using human embryonic stem cells to treat chronic injuries and other disorders of the central nervous system. In previous studies, Keirstead and colleagues identified how the body's immune system attacks and destroys myelin during spinal cord injury or disease states. They also have shown that when treated ...

New method shows it is possible to grow bone for grafts within a patient's body

...d to fuse spinal vertebrae to treat serious spinal injuries and back pain. Although this works well at the repair site, the removal operation is extremely painful and can produce serious complications. If the new method is confirmed in clinical studies, it will become possible to grow new bone for all types o...

Modified collagen could yield important medical applications

...d collagen can give us great new tool for treating injuries and illnesses." ...

Unusual antibiotics show promise against deadly 'superbugs'

...d collagen can give us great new tool for treating injuries and illnesses." ...

Can't serve an ace? Could be muscle fatigue

Fatigue could reduce skills and cause injuries and muscle weakness during sport because the brain does not consider the extra effort required for movement, Monash University researchers have found. Professor Uwe Proske, from Monash's Department of Physiology, found when muscles were weakened fro...

3D Atlas Will Help Navigate The Spinal Cord

...n 2003 and was impressed with their work in spinal injuries research. Professor Paxinos is a world leader in the preparation of brain atlases, being the author of atlases of human, monkey, rat and mouse brains used world-wide by neuroscientists in all areas. As a geographic map to a traveller, a map of the s...

Researchers make 'embryonic-like' stem cells from umbilical cord blood

...ment of treatments for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and disabilities. The discovery made during a project undertaken with experts from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Synthecon Corporation in the United States provides medical researchers and physicians with an ethical and reliable sour...

Insight into the processes of 'positive' and 'negative' learners

...ment of treatments for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and disabilities. The discovery made during a project undertaken with experts from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Synthecon Corporation in the United States provides medical researchers and physicians with an ethical and reliable sour...

Researchers propose measures to curb lion attacks in Tanzania

...ment of treatments for life-threatening illnesses, injuries and disabilities. The discovery made during a project undertaken with experts from the University of Texas Medical Branch and the Synthecon Corporation in the United States provides medical researchers and physicians with an ethical and reliable sour...

Gradient guides nerve growth down spinal cord

...evolutionize treatment of patients with paralyzing injuries to these nerves," Zou suggests. "Although half the battle is acquiring the right cells to repair the nervous system," he said, "the other half is guiding them to their targets where they can make the right connections." "Understanding how the brain...

Chernobyl: The true scale of the accident

...ormer Soviet Union, due to cardiovascular disease, injuries and poisoning, and not radiation-related illness. How have governments responded? The resettlement and rehabilitation programs launched in Soviet conditions proved unsustainable after 1991 and funding for projects declined, leaving many projects un...

Scientists use stem cells to grow cartilage

...grow cartilage for transplantation for a number of injuries and medical problems, including sports injuries, new cartilage for people having hip replacements, and even for cosmetic surgery. Dr Archana Vats, from Imperial College London and first author of the paper, said: "The ability to grow cartilage using...

Is it Possible to Change Prescribing Habits?

...lpractice and litigation and the personal costs of injuries to patients. Nationally, hospital expenses to treat patients who have ADEs during hospital admission are enormous: between $1.6 billion and $5.6 billion annually. The cost to patients is also high and not just monetary: those who have an ADE spend o...

One small step means giant leap for spinal cord research

...timulates the muscles of patients with spinal cord injuries helps to increase walking function in those whose ...le improvement." Five patients, whose spinal cord injuries had taken place from two to 24 years prior to the study, completed two to five sessions per week of ...

New technique puts brain-imaging research on its head

...eveloping therapeutic remedies for traumatic brain injuries and concussions. "The most immediate application of our data will be in the development and validation of computer simulations of traumatic brain injury, which may ultimately reduce the need for direct experimentation." Bayly and Genin are collabor...

Pittsburgh researchers discover that certain chemicals in the blood may indicate brain injury

...) ?the most common cause of severe traumatic brain injuries in young children ?are often misdiagnosed because doctors rarely receive a history that an infant has been shaken, the patients are too young to talk, and the symptoms such as vomiting and fussiness are common in many childhood illnesses. Infants w...

University of Utah to help build bionic arm

... And today one of the most devastating battlefield injuries is loss of a limb." The Pentagon announced the project in February when it said it was awarding the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory $30.4 million over two years, with optional additional funding that could bring the total to $54....

Both alcoholism and chronic smoking can damage the brain's prefrontal cortex

... And today one of the most devastating battlefield injuries is loss of a limb." The Pentagon announced the project in February when it said it was awarding the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory $30.4 million over two years, with optional additional funding that could bring the total to $54....

NJIT engineer poised to take stem cell research a step forward

... spinal cord function -- patients with spinal cord injuries could be healed with injections of stem cells. "When you injure your spinal cord," Arinzeh said, "you damage your nerve tissue and the neurons. So I'd like to regenerate that nerve tissue by coaxing stem cells to turn into neurons. My hope is that ...

Penguins waddle but they don't fall down, UH researchers say

...enges, such as the elderly, those with leg or foot injuries and toddlers learning to walk. The research findings could even allow the development of more mobile robots. His study on walking stability features dozens of King penguins from Moody Gardens in Galveston. Though these endearing animals may seem u...

Polymer aids in blood clotting, pointing way to new treatment

... molecule may lead to a new treatment strategy for injuries or illnesses in which blood clotting is paramount ...very useful to save lives. Many people with severe injuries die from blood loss not directly resulting from their injuries. This research could open doors to he...

Stem cells can repair torn tendons or ligaments

...w tendon or ligament tissue. Tendon and ligament injuries present a major clinical challenge to orthopedic medicine. In the United States, at least 200,000 patients undergo tendon or ligament repair each year. Moreover, the intervertebral disc, which is composed in part of tendon-like tissue, tends to deg...

Cincinnati surgeons report new treatment for often-fatal injury

...rgency surgeons a reliable way to repair difficult injuries with readily accessible materials," Dr. Giglia says. "More people can be treated--and potentially saved--with these minimally invasive techniques." Standard "open" treatment for this type of injury can work, says Dr. Giglia, but it puts significant ...

Robotic joystick reveals how brain controls movement

... for people who have lost motor abilities to brain injuries like strokes. In a report on the work in the May 23 issue of PLoS Biology, the researchers built on their observations that some parts of the brain learn - and forget - fast, while others learn more slowly and more lastingly. Both types of learning...

New approach to vaccine development provides potent, long-lasting immunity

... for people who have lost motor abilities to brain injuries like strokes. In a report on the work in the May 23 issue of PLoS Biology, the researchers built on their observations that some parts of the brain learn - and forget - fast, while others learn more slowly and more lastingly. Both types of learning...

NASA technology helping injured US troops

...tion process without a fear of falling and without injuries to the patient or staff." According to Messier, one active military patient at Walter Reed who was wheelchair-bound for two years due to a spinal cord injury is now up and walking with SAM. "When we first put him in the walker, he was up and going...

Neurons grown from embryonic stem cells restore function in paralyzed rats

...s understand how stem cells might be used to treat injuries and disease and begin to fulfill their great promise. The successful demonstration of functional restoration is proof of the principle and an important step forward. We must remember, however, that we still have a great distance to go," says Elias A....

Spinal cord bridge bypasses injury to restore mobility

...d successfully as grafts in the limbs, spinal cord injuries put up defenses called inhibitory chondroitin sulf... Health-supported animal study, 12 rats had spinal injuries at the cervical level 3 (C3) that resulted in impaired motor functions to their right side limbs. Th...

Mice learn tasks that may help treat human psychiatric disorders

...autism, other similar diseases and traumatic brain injuries was limited, Garner said. The Garner team's mice were tested in a maze with rewards of one-quarter of a piece of sweetened cereal hidden in two-inch diameter metal bowls. The scientists varied the material inside the bowls where the cereal piece wa...

Bone marrow may restore cells lost in vision diseases

...e natural healing processes to treat sight-robbing injuries or diseases. "What this tells us is for problems ...ich have the extraordinary abilities to home in on injuries and possibly regenerate other cell types in the body. In this case, the cells were transplanted to c...

Bioengineered tissue implants regenerate damaged knee cartilage

Knee cartilage injuries can be effectively repaired by tissue engineering ... osteoarthritis. "Left untreated, many cartilage injuries will progress to osteoarthritis and the need for eventual replacement of the whole joint. Future in...

Whiplash injuries ?are they caused by startle reflexes?

...al of Physiology suggests that a cause of whiplash injuries could be startle reflexes elicited by unexpected loud sounds. Whiplash injuries most commonly result from seemingly minor low-speed rear-end collisions. The reason for the injury i...

Farm kids almost twice as likely to die from injury as children overall

...d and analyzed Canadian data on fatal agricultural injuries to young children to determine rates, identify pat...Canadian children altogether. Most of these mortal injuries occurred at the agricultural worksite. The researchers identified three main ways that such injuries...

Gene therapy protects mice from the effects of whole-body irradiation

...d and analyzed Canadian data on fatal agricultural injuries to young children to determine rates, identify pat...Canadian children altogether. Most of these mortal injuries occurred at the agricultural worksite. The researchers identified three main ways that such injuries...

Gene therapy accelerates healing of damaged skeletal muscle

...d and analyzed Canadian data on fatal agricultural injuries to young children to determine rates, identify pat...Canadian children altogether. Most of these mortal injuries occurred at the agricultural worksite. The researchers identified three main ways that such injuries...

Cell death following blood 'reflow' injury tracked to natural toxin

...r is indeed the culprit in the kind of reperfusion injuries long linked to heart attacks, strokes and a variety of blood vessel injuries, the researchers pumped mouse nerve cells full of PAR-polymer. The cells died, but to be sure PAR-polymer (and not something else) killed them, they examined the brains of m...

How does a zebrafish grow a new tail?

...n. We can regenerate liver tissue and repair minor injuries to bone, muscle, the tips of our toes and fingers, and the corneas of our eyes. Finding out more about the remarkable ability of amphibians and fish to re-grow complex parts might provide the information necessary to create treatments for people whos...

Cigarette smoking impedes tendon-to-bone healing

...cuff tears involve one or more of the tendons. The injuries are more common as people age and more common in the dominant arm. The true incidence of the injuries is hard to determine because between 5 percent and 40 percent of people who may have a torn rotator ...

Amateur boxing linked to brain cell injury

...nal fluid in the days following a bout, indicating injuries to neurons and other cells important to brain function, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. About 20 percent of professional boxers develop chronic traumatic brain injury, accordi...

Stem cells found in adult hair follicles may provide alternative to embryonic stem cells

... grafted the cells into mice that have spinal cord injuries and were encouraged by the results. The cells survived and integrated into the spinal cord, remaining at the site of transplantation and not forming tumors," Dr. Sieber-Blum says. According to Dr. Sieber-Blum, subsets of the epidermal neural crest ...

Nanoscale microscope sheds first light on gene repair

...lusters, directing the first aid/repair after DNA injuries to the region where it is really needed. Many biological processes lie out of the visual reach of scientists. The benefits of high-resolution electron microscopy are often offset by disruptive sample preparation requirements. Light microscopy allow...

Harvard scientists identify compounds that stimulate stem cell growth in the brain

...oaches for a wide range neurological disorders and injuries that were once considered incurable," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. The study also provided so insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved when LTB4 stimulates neuronal stem cells. According to the...

Lungs try to repair damaged elastic fibers

...could do it Very young children who suffer lung injuries increase elastin expression and produce new elastic fibers inside the alveoli, Woods said. Adults do not have that ability and that has led physiologists to conclude that the elastin gene must shut off after we reach a certain age, ending elastin fib...

MIT bioengineer advances survival, promise of adult stem cells

...ose stem cells hold great promise for treatment of injuries and some diseases, says MIT professor of biological engineering Linda Griffith. Griffith is the senior author of a recent study showing that when presented in the right physical context, certain growth factors encourage the survival and proliferat...

Liposuctioned fat stem cells to repair bodies

...ells with the potential to repair defects and heal injuries in the body. A team led by Philippe Collas at the ...the way to cell therapies for sport-related tendon injuries in humans. Therapies using bone marrow stem cells, similar to fat stem cells, have achieved some suc...

Motor protein plays key role in connecting neurons

... helping restore communication lost in spinal cord injuries and other disorders. "Growth is precisely ...s motor ?which they believe happens in spinal cord injuries ?axon outgrowth also was hindered. "Myosin X plays a critical role in neurons during development,...

Lead-'scrubbing' drug may also improve muscle function in lead-exposed children

...e that succimer therapy may also result in reduced injuries among this at-risk population.? In the October 2... during childhood appear to suffer more accidental injuries than those who had lower lead exposure. He says further research is needed to determine if succim...

Pregnancy hormone key to repairing nerve cell damage

... other neurological disorders, such as spinal cord injuries and stroke." Gage, an international leader in nervous system repair, was not involved in this study. Subsequent tests of prolactin in animal models of MS will be required before testing of prolactin on humans can take place, but MS researchers are...

Elderly spinal cord injuries increase five-fold in 30 years, Jefferson neurosurgeons find

The number of spinal cord injuries among senior citizens (age 70 and above) has incre...ociation of Neurological Surgeons. "Spinal cord injuries in older patients are becoming more prevalent," said James Harrop, M.D, Assistant Professor of Neur...

Scientists find method to pick noncompetitive animals, improve production

...n groups and bred to be more passive sustain fewer injuries and are more productive than animals bred naturally. For instance, chickens bred to be less aggressive don't engage in as much pecking, which often causes severe injury and even death. The energy that animals used for negative behavior or to avoid su...

Robotic exoskeleton replaces muscle work

...enefit stroke patients or patients with incomplete injuries of the spinal cord," said Daniel Ferris, associate...scles tell them how to move. In people with spinal injuries or some neurological disorders, those electrical signals don't arrive full strength and are uncoordi...

3 proteins may play important role in nerve-cell repair

...targets for treating stroke, brain and spinal cord injuries and also neurodegenerative diseases," says principal investigator Yoshinaga Saeki of the Ohio State University Medical Center. The study is published in the April 6 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Increased amounts of the protei...