Spinal-Cord Injury Victim First to Undergo Embryonic Stem-Cell Therapy

[FayeforCure]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/spinal-cord-injury-victim-undergo-embryonic-stem-cell/story?id=13742532

Yay, there is some long-awaited hope for my son Jason, who became paralyzed from a soccer injury at age 7 (he is now 21)!!!!!
Oh, to be able to walk again!!!

Please check out the video!!!

By STEVE OSUNSAMI (@SteveOsunsami) and BEN FORER
June 2, 2011
Dr. Donald Leslie, medical director at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, has high hopes.

"We want to cure paralysis," he said. "We want to stop spinal cord injury. How incredible would that be?"

Leslie's mission has begun with T.J. Atchinson, the first step in research that he believes could lead to many steps for those who were told they would never walk again. Atchinson, 21, was the first human with a spinal cord injury to undergo embryonic stem cell therapy.

The athletic college student's life took a hard turn in September when he was home from the University of Alabama visiting his family in Chatom and lost control of his car. Even before he was cut loose from the vehicle, he knew something was wrong.

"I realized I couldn't feel from about here down," nursing student Atchinson said, pointing to his waist. "When I got to the hospital, they said I would never walk again."

The accident took place on the birthday of Christopher Reeves, the actor who had fought hard for embryonic stem-cell therapy but never lived to receive it. Atchinson was still accepting the news about his situation when doctors told him he'd be a great candidate for the therapy.

Gene Blythe/AP Photo
Dr. Donald Leslie, medical director of the... View Full Size

Gene Blythe/AP Photo
Dr. Donald Leslie, medical director of the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, describes a patient's injuries during a news conference Sept. 13, 2006. Stem cells are building blocks of life, and they've been used in the laboratory to repair the broken spinal cords of small animals, who walked again. Atchinson agreed to become test case No. 1.

Doctors opened his wound, while researchers used a remote control to guide the needle. They injected his spinal cord with a small dose of 2 million cells that, they hope, will transform into new nerve cells, attach to muscles and refire Atchinson's central nervous system.

Although Atchinson's role was only to prove the procedure is safe, he believes it's already working. "I can feel that," Atchinson said, pulling the hair on his legs.

After six months of the therapy, he said, he's able to sense weight when he places heavy items on his lap. It's barely there, Atchinson said, but he can sense something.

Rubbing his leg, Atchinson said, "I can feel that, there's something there."

His doctors are cautiously optimistic.

"It's very hard to measure sensation," Dr. Leslie said. "But if he tells me he couldn't feel something before, and he can now, I got to believe him. And I want this for him more than you know."

His mother, Anita McDonald, wants this, too, saying that people who oppose the therapy on religious grounds are unreasonable.

"It doesn't matter how long they've been in a chair, they all want to walk again," McDonald said. "I just know a lot of people are against it, but until they've been put in the position, I don't think they should judge anybody."

Doctors will continue to measure Atchinson's strength and test his nerves and muscles. He returns to school in the fall, moving on with his life but still holding out hope that his injury is healing.

ABC News' Harvey Goldberg contributed to this report.

[Ocklawaha]

He is in our prayers. Let's pray for that miracle Faye.

OCKLAWAHA

[FayeforCure]

He is in our prayers. Let's pray for that miracle Faye.

OCKLAWAHA

Thank you Ock! I hope it all happens in our lifetime. There are so many competing interests, especially with the world still reeling from a deep recession, that things that could have been expected in the past have been put on the backburner............not to mention the religious distraction from good old-fashioned science.

[JeffreyS]

Dr. Donald Leslie, medical director at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, has high hopes.

"We want to cure paralysis," he said. "We want to stop spinal cord injury. How incredible would that be?"

Amen. 

[Dog Walker]

I have worked with neurosurgeons for thirty years and there is no group that is hoping for this cure to work more than they are.  I have seen experienced neurosurgeons come out of an examination room with tears in their eyes having seen a young person's life altered forever from a spinal injury.

The nations neurosurgeons came together in the late '80's and started the Think First Foundation, a foundation to use education to prevent head and spinal cord injuries.  "Use your mind to protect your body" is the Foundation's tag line.  They put educational programs and materials into elementary, middle and high schools with messages tailored to each age group about behaviors that puts them at risk.

http://www.thinkfirst.org/

Really good web site too with materials for all ages on it.   http://www.thinkfirst.org/

[FayeforCure]

I have worked with neurosurgeons for thirty years and there is no group that is hoping for this cure to work more than they are.  I have seen experienced neurosurgeons come out of an examination room with tears in their eyes having seen a young person's life altered forever from a spinal injury.

The nations neurosurgeons came together in the late '80's and started the Think First Foundation, a foundation to use education to prevent head and spinal cord injuries.  "Use your mind to protect your body" is the Foundation's tag line.  They put educational programs and materials into elementary, middle and high schools with messages tailored to each age group about behaviors that puts them at risk.

http://www.thinkfirst.org/

Really good web site too with materials for all ages on it.   http://www.thinkfirst.org/

Thanks Dog Walker!

Of all the doctors out there, I admire neurosurgeons and interventional neuro-radiologists most. The impact they make on people's lives is tremendous. And the pain they feel for people when there isn't anything they can do is equally enormous as they know that our neuro system determines "who we are and what we can do."

Unfortunately, prevention has until now been the only effective measure for many neurological conditions, especially injuries from car crashes and sports.

Many people don't want to admit to the dangers of sports though, and one player in particular comes to mind who gave his life to the quest for more awareness:

In a series of articles, The New York Times has been telling the story of Dave Duerson, a 50-year-old former Chicago Bear and father of four who killed himself earlier this month. Duerson’s final wish, expressed in his suicide note and in a voicemail message to his ex-wife, was that his brain would be given to the National Football League’s (NFL) brain bank.

Duerson’s death, and his final gift, will likely expand the national conversation about the effects of repeated concussion on football players’ brains…and what should be done to protect athletes of all ages.

The “brain bank” is the nickname of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE). The CSTE was created in 2008 as a collaborative venture between Boston University School of Medicine and Sports Legacy Institute (SLI). Its is to conduct state-of-the-art research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)â€"a form of progressive dementiaâ€"through the study of neuropathology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, disease course, genetic and environmental risk factors and prevention. It’s research is done on donated brain and spinal cord tissue, with the hope that scientists can develop tests for diagnosing CTE in living people, and treatments for people who show signs of disease.

When Duerson took his own life, he shot himself in the chest, not the head, so that his brain could be donated intact.

According to The New York Times:

Players who began their careers knowing the likely costs to their knees and shoulders are only now learning about the cognitive risks, too. After years of denying or discrediting evidence of football’s impact on the brain â€" from C.T.E. in deceased players to an increasing number of retirees found to have dementia or other memory-related disease â€" the N.F.L. has spent the last year addressing the issue, mostly through changes in concussion management and playing rules.

Duerson was active in helping ex-footballers with disability. He served on a panel that helped administer the NFL’s disability plan and the 88 Plan, a care fund for families of players with dementia. There is no doubt that Duerson knew of the link between repeated head injury and dementia and neurologic disability…and it is likely that he believed he suffered from CTE. Friends say he had memory problems, and sometimes had a difficult time thinking of or writing the correct words.

Again, from The New York Times:

Duerson sent text messages to his family before he shot himself specifically requesting that his brain be examined for damage, two people aware of the messages said. Another person close to Duerson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Duerson had commented to him in recent months that he might have C.T.E., an incurable disease linked to depression, impaired impulse control and cognitive decline.

It will be awhile before we know whether Duerson suffered from CTE, or if he was suffering from depression without brain damage. Regardless of the outcome of the autopsy, Duerson’s death puts new focus on the effects of football on brain health and brain function. Pro athletes play under great risk, but some say the greatest risk is reserved for youth athletes, whose still-developing brains may suffer bigger consequences from smaller hits.

The conversation about how to prevent brain damage in athletes of all ages will be difficult. Fans love the raw aggression of the game, and those with money at stake may balk at taking the danger out of the game for fear of losing viewers and revenue. Will we see new safety equipment? New helmet designs? A change in the rules? This should be an interesting year for parents, coaches, football players, and the N.F.L.

Our hope is that Dave Duerson’s tragic death has meaning, that safety becomes the paramount concern, and that this is the last time a football player dies as the resultâ€"directly or indirectlyâ€" of what really is just a game.

http://www.lawmed.com/brain-injury/tbi-lawyer/football-player-donates-brain/

Stem cells hold the answer to stopping cancer ( which is always caused by stem cells going haywire), as well as repair of neurological damage!!

Until we have an effective treatment for neurological injuries, all we can do is be responsible and aware: Make safety come first!!

[FayeforCure]

OK, so now we also have ACT using embryonic stem cell treatment to stop progressive blindness, in human clinical trial.

http://technology.inquirer.net/1612/first-patients-enroll-in-us-stem-cell-trials-on-blindness/

WASHINGTON â€" The first clinical trials that examine the use of stem cells to treat two forms of blindness are ready to begin now that patients have been enrolled, a US company announced on Tuesday.

A total of 24 patients have entered two separate trials at an eye institute in California, said representatives from the Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology.

ACT was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration several months ago to begin clinical trials of human embryonic stem cells to treat a form of juvenile blindness known as Stargardt’s disease and dry age-related macular degeneration.

Now that patients have been enrolled, the trials will begin “in the very near future,” a company spokeswoman said.

For those who claim this is pre-mature, let me remind them that both Geron and ACT had made their discoveries way before 2004, when they discussed their cell therapies before the First Stem Cell Action Conference in Palo Alto, which I attended with my mother and my five children.

That also reminds me of an advocacy manifesto that followed this conference and was the basis of an organization, Cure Paralysis Now, that I founded:

CURE Activism: Unlock The Prison Of Paralysis

Why Cure Advocacy?

Without activism:

1. The United States would still be under British rule;

2. African Americans would still live in slavery.

3. Women would not have the right to vote. (Women's Sufferage Movement)

4. People with Disabilities would still be institutionalized. (ADAPT)

Rights and Freedoms are won through activism.

The time is NOW to fight for:

The SCI (spinal cord injury) Bill of Rights

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

1. All humans are created equal and are entitled to certain unalienable Rights, including Life, Liberty, Independence and the pursuit of Happiness;

2. Governments are instituted among humankind to secure these rights, and if they fail, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish such Governments in order to effect Safety and Happiness;

3. Spinal Cord Injury robs its victims of Liberty and Independence; the Search for a Cure is their Pursuit of Happiness.

Let Your Voice Be Heard

WE MUST:

1. Deliver the message that SCI can happen to you or a loved one in a heartbeat;

2. Educate the public and our legislators about the desperate need for a cure;

3. Spread the news about the many promising cure therapies that need funding;

4. Work with other organizations to separate fact from fiction in the debate over stem cell therapies

In 2005, we headed to Washington for the first Cure Paralysis Now rally at which we had Hillary Clinton and Dana Reeve speak.

In Florida, and until 2009, I used any opportunity I could get to have the media run stories on stem cell research and what they would mean for my son Jason, who became paralyzed from a soccer injury.

Two of those stories stand out to me most:

A front page Orlando Sentinel story of March 5th, 2007, and though not exclusive to Florida, my work also received mention in the Wall Street Journal in 2004.

I am now mostly retired from advocacy, realizing that powerful lobbying interests always trump any citizen action.

At this point all I do is keep my fingers crossed for small start-up Bio-med companies to plow along in a slow and arduous path towards the cures we so desperately need.

That is also why it is so offensive that we wage all these trillion dollar wars of choice, which are crippling domestic issues far and wide. Each and every soldier sent off to war costs our nation $1 million!!

[Ajax]

That is also why it is so offensive that we wage all these trillion dollar wars of choice, which are crippling domestic issues far and wide. Each and every soldier sent off to war costs our nation $1 million!!

I couldn't agree with you more, Faye.  I hope that we, as a country, are able to devote more of our resources to this type of research and that medical science is able to help your son and all who are affected by SCI. 

[wsansewjs]

OK, so now we also have ACT using embryonic stem cell treatment to stop progressive blindness, in human clinical trial.

http://technology.inquirer.net/1612/first-patients-enroll-in-us-stem-cell-trials-on-blindness/

WASHINGTON â€" The first clinical trials that examine the use of stem cells to treat two forms of blindness are ready to begin now that patients have been enrolled, a US company announced on Tuesday.

A total of 24 patients have entered two separate trials at an eye institute in California, said representatives from the Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology.

ACT was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration several months ago to begin clinical trials of human embryonic stem cells to treat a form of juvenile blindness known as Stargardt’s disease and dry age-related macular degeneration.

Now that patients have been enrolled, the trials will begin “in the very near future,” a company spokeswoman said.

For those who claim this is pre-mature, let me remind them that both Geron and ACT had made their discoveries way before 2004, when they discussed their cell therapies before the First Stem Cell Action Conference in Palo Alto, which I attended with my mother and my five children.

That also reminds me of an advocacy manifesto that followed this conference and was the basis of an organization, Cure Paralysis Now, that I founded:

CURE Activism: Unlock The Prison Of Paralysis

Why Cure Advocacy?

Without activism:

1. The United States would still be under British rule;

2. African Americans would still live in slavery.

3. Women would not have the right to vote. (Women's Sufferage Movement)

4. People with Disabilities would still be institutionalized. (ADAPT)

Rights and Freedoms are won through activism.

The time is NOW to fight for:

The SCI (spinal cord injury) Bill of Rights

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

1. All humans are created equal and are entitled to certain unalienable Rights, including Life, Liberty, Independence and the pursuit of Happiness;

2. Governments are instituted among humankind to secure these rights, and if they fail, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish such Governments in order to effect Safety and Happiness;

3. Spinal Cord Injury robs its victims of Liberty and Independence; the Search for a Cure is their Pursuit of Happiness.

Let Your Voice Be Heard

WE MUST:

1. Deliver the message that SCI can happen to you or a loved one in a heartbeat;

2. Educate the public and our legislators about the desperate need for a cure;

3. Spread the news about the many promising cure therapies that need funding;

4. Work with other organizations to separate fact from fiction in the debate over stem cell therapies

In 2005, we headed to Washington for the first Cure Paralysis Now rally at which we had Hillary Clinton and Dana Reeve speak.

In Florida, and until 2009, I used any opportunity I could get to have the media run stories on stem cell research and what they would mean for my son Jason, who became paralyzed from a soccer injury.

Two of those stories stand out to me most:

A front page Orlando Sentinel story of March 5th, 2007, and though not exclusive to Florida, my work also received mention in the Wall Street Journal in 2004.

I am now mostly retired from advocacy, realizing that powerful lobbying interests always trump any citizen action.

At this point all I do is keep my fingers crossed for small start-up Bio-med companies to plow along in a slow and arduous path towards the cures we so desperately need.

That is also why it is so offensive that we wage all these trillion dollar wars of choice, which are crippling domestic issues far and wide. Each and every soldier sent off to war costs our nation $1 million!!

Thank you so much for sharing that. I have a progressive blindness known as RP (Retinitis Pigmentosa). I have raised over $630 alone in funding cure for blindness for my local walk, the VisionWalk of Jacksonville. There are over 7 different treatments with incredible and promising outlook in retinitis diseases. Some of the researching in those treatments are already past into 2nd stage of clinical trials. I can tell you that there will be a cure for my blindness within 5 years, no doubt about it.

I honestly do feel the same with your son, since I am only 24 years old. We both have nerve issues in different areas. Huge praise to YOU and your son for not giving up and keep it going! I wish the best in your endeavor and please DON'T hesitate in contacting me for my help, advice, and/or company.

-Josh

[Fallen Buckeye]

I know your positions are based out of love for your son, but there are some serious moral dilemmas associated with embryonic stem cell research that could be avoided by focusing on adult stem cell research. So far adult stem cell research has been much more effective as well, and several adult stem cell treatments are already in use including some trial treatments for spinal cord injuries. Here's some articles describing some of the treatments being developed. I hope the best for you and your son.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050920074831.htm

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1747686/posts

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/stemcells/sctoday/

http://healthworldnet.com/HeadsOrTails/Adult-Stem-Cell-Therapy/?C=7863

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/449djpmz.asp

[wsansewjs]

I know your positions are based out of love for your son, but there are some serious moral dilemmas associated with embryonic stem cell research that could be avoided by focusing on adult stem cell research. So far adult stem cell research has been much more effective as well, and several adult stem cell treatments are already in use including some trial treatments for spinal cord injuries. Here's some articles describing some of the treatments being developed. I hope the best for you and your son.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/09/050920074831.htm

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1747686/posts

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/stemcells/sctoday/

http://healthworldnet.com/HeadsOrTails/Adult-Stem-Cell-Therapy/?C=7863

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/449djpmz.asp

Embryonic stem cell - only effective when it is reached at the blastocyst stage (4-5 days AFTER fertilization, not 2 weeks or 2 months).



We are not killing life by extracting from the fetus. The fetus is useless for the stem cell extraction, so as might just let it proceed. Basically, it is not a life form until it beats a heart.

-Josh

[Fallen Buckeye]

I really don't want to sully up this thread with a debate on when life begins (which I believe is at the moment of conception) and actually my problems with the process go beyond whether you're extracting from a fetus or blastocyst. All I'm trying to say is that there is a reasonable, practical alternative to embryonic stem cell research that:

• avoids moral gray area such as our particular disagreement on when life begins
• has already led to viable treatments
• has less risk of rejection

I was just bringing this up because some people think that the entire stem cell debate is either we use embryonic stem cells or there no cures at all. I believe this is a compromise everyone can live with.

[wsansewjs]

I really don't want to sully up this thread with a debate on when life begins (which I believe is at the moment of conception) and actually my problems with the process go beyond whether you're extracting from a fetus or blastocyst. All I'm trying to say is that there is a reasonable, practical alternative to embryonic stem cell research that:

• avoids moral gray area such as our particular disagreement on when life begins
• has already led to viable treatments
• has less risk of rejection

I was just bringing this up because some people think that the entire stem cell debate is either we use embryonic stem cells or there no cures at all. I believe this is a compromise everyone can live with.

I was fully aware of your point being made. I just wanted to add the clarification of what is exactly embryonic stem cells.

-Josh

[FayeforCure]

That is also why it is so offensive that we wage all these trillion dollar wars of choice, which are crippling domestic issues far and wide. Each and every soldier sent off to war costs our nation $1 million!!

I couldn't agree with you more, Faye.  I hope that we, as a country, are able to devote more of our resources to this type of research and that medical science is able to help your son and all who are affected by SCI.

Thank you Ajax!

It is so cruel and inhumane to be trapped in your own body............being a spectator of other people's lives, while your own life is on hold!

And all because of damage to the spinal tracts, the size of a pencil eraser on top of a #2 pencil.

[FayeforCure]

Thank you so much for sharing that. I have a progressive blindness known as RP (Retinitis Pigmentosa). I have raised over $630 alone in funding cure for blindness for my local walk, the VisionWalk of Jacksonville. There are over 7 different treatments with incredible and promising outlook in retinitis diseases. Some of the researching in those treatments are already past into 2nd stage of clinical trials. I can tell you that there will be a cure for my blindness within 5 years, no doubt about it.

I honestly do feel the same with your son, since I am only 24 years old. We both have nerve issues in different areas. Huge praise to YOU and your son for not giving up and keep it going! I wish the best in your endeavor and please DON'T hesitate in contacting me for my help, advice, and/or company.

-Josh

Josh, thank you for sharing that too. One thing for everyone to remember is that any and all of us will eventually be hit by an incurable chronic condition, but it is especially hard to take when it happens while we are young.

We all have a stake in this, and I am happy you are involved in visionwalk. Thank you also for your offer of support. At age 21,  my son is very isolated and lonely. Getting together with other young people would be very welcome!

All of this keeps reminding me of the bible story where Jesus helped the lame to walk and the blind to see.

That is probably also why most religions in the world support all kinds of stem cell research, both adult stem cell research as well as embryonic stem cell research.

The Episcopal Church
The Presbyterian Church
The Methodist Church
The Mormon Church
Islam

Even evangelical Lutherans support embyonic stem cell research:

Here is a statement from Genetics Task Force of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, titled:
Stem Cell Research Is Not 'Baby Killing'

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-scholar-stem-cell-research-is-not-baby-killing-51407/

Unfortunately the hysteria on abortions has spilled over into stem cell research, when the two are completely unrelated as your picture clearly shows.

Fortunately most people now know that we are talking about a stem cell clump the size of the tip of a needle:



600,000 of these clumps are frozen in our nation's freezers (left over from fertility treatments), and destined for the trash. Is it not life-affirming to recycle these cells to save lives, rather than trash them?