Paralysed Man Walks Again After Cell Transplant

A paralysed man has been able to walk again after a pioneering therapy that involved transplanting cells from his nasal cavity into his spinal cord.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29645760

If something so severe can be treated nowadays, there's hope

 

Always

 

I saw this yesterday, and it put a big smile on my face. Science is amazing, and at times it's just phenomenal considering that it was only a few years ago this was thought to be impossible! We need more stories like this.

I understand they're doing clinical trials next, but given how well it's works out for this guy I'd sat there will be a lot of people who will benefit from this awesome development.

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284152.php

Transplant of nose cells help paralysed man to walk - I wonder if there is scope for this technique for hearing cells.
pfft clutching at straws really. feeling a bit flat today

 

This was a good news day when I saw it on TV ,so I think positive to one day there will be some med out there for our condition .Keeps me hanging in there,I know that .Amazing seeing that man moving .give others in his situation hope .Good News in medical field,break through indeed .

 

Using stem cells as a treatment for spinal cord paralysis has been attempted before (using Mesenchymal stem cells) but with little success for patients with a completely severed spinal cord (only outcome from these procedures is that some patients regain sensation in leg muscles, but no movement as such). Patients with a partially severed spinal cord tend to do somewhat better with a stem cell transplant (but are normally also at least slightly functional to begin with ie. before the intervention). The problem with using stem cells for repairing the spinal cord is that scar tissue develops after an injury to the spine (which prevents the nerves from re-connecting). As far as I can tell, the innovative difference with this new procedure described in the first post, above, is that they used grafting to allow nerves to regrow. I am unsure why they specifically used OEC stem cells - I don't believe that would be the "critical" difference. I will be having a phone call next week with the first stem cell clinic I was treated at - and I will ask them about it.

As for a direct "application" towards restoring hair cells, my take is that there is none what-so-ever. Restoring cochlear hair cells requires the need to regrow a structure from scratch - which is different to repairing an existing structure. But then again, there isn't necessarily a need to regrow completely new cochlear hair cells in order to improve hearing; repairing existing damaged hair cells will in itself be beneficial.

 

The four-year old video below explores the use of treating hearing loss using nasal stem cells (equivalent to the stem cells used in the transplant procedure of the paralyzed man). However, I stand by my earlier commments regarding the usefulness of nasal stem cells as compared with eg. stem cells derived from the umbilical cord. The method they have used on animals involves injecting the stem cells directly into the cochlea (which certainly could be pivotal as opposed to injecting the stem cells intravenously). This was a topic I discussed with Dr. Yang for my 2nd stem cell treatment; she immediately said it was too dangerous to try on humans (= me).

Stem cells found to improve hearing loss

The following slightly more recent video considers the use of embryonic stem cells in treating hearing loss. Again, as with video above, the time frame is the classic "10-years". I am not sure why the time frame mentioned in the first video is 10-years (as it concerns adult stem cells).

Deaf Gerbils 'Hear Again' After Stem...