Stem Cells Spinal Cord Injury
Almost 300,000 Americans are currently living with an injury to their spinal cord and 12,000 people every year are informed that they will never walk again following an accident. There may well be hope, however, that a single injection of specialized stem cells may possibly return movement and hope to a paralyzed body. In fact one scientist who has dedicated a good portion of the last ten years searching for a cure has claimed that a new treatment may well be within reach. Should this prove to be the case it could mean that the treatment and repair of spinal cord damage will be revolutionized.
In a University of California laboratory researcher by the name of Hans Keirstead, Ph.D at UC Irvine believes that he may have found the vital pieces of the jigsaw to help patients with spinal cord injuries regain movement. Dr. Keirstead said that he has come up with a treatment designed to treat patients within two weeks from when they suffer an injury. He went on to comment that it is a scary concept that the people who will receive the treatment haven’t even suffered an injury yet.
In Dr. Keirstead’s study rats that had been paralyzed previously were able to walk again within six weeks, and from these results believes that human trials could begin very soon with perhaps ten patients receiving an injection of the specialized stem cells directly into their damaged spinal columns. It is hoped that, in these cases, small movements may been seen in the patients within three months. He made it clear, however, that he did not expect such dramatic and immediate results from his treatments.
Dr. Keirstead’s treatment comes from cases where he has successfully coaxed stem cells from human embryos into a condition wherein they can be easily and quickly transformed into spinal cord cells which he subsequently injected into rats for observation. He found that the new cells travelled all throughout the damaged spinal column and then enmeshed themselves around the nerve clusters, thereby ensuring that function was restored. Dr Keirstead explained that the new stem cells are “a very high purity population of a particular spinal cord cell type that is lost after the patient is injured”.
Due to the fact that this trial is the very first of its kind there still remain a large number of unknowns to be considered, including whether or not the stem cells will work as well on people as they have in animals and whether there will be any side effects of the treatment. In response to these concerns Dr. Keirstead insists that there are likely to be risks, especially with regards to whether or not it is the right cell sector to target. He cautions those eager to receive the treatment to be patient. Even so, some critics of Dr. Keirstead have criticized him for pushing the treatment too quickly, although it will be monitored and regulated, naturally, by the FDA when it enters the human trial phase.
Despite all criticism and support on both sides Dr. Keirstead realizes that there remains a chance that the treatment won’t work in humans or may never be allowed to be tested on human subjects as approximately two-thirds of all new treatments will never make it past second-phase testing.
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