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Paralysis is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed with some form of permanent or transient paralysis. The word "paralysis" derives from the Greek παράλυσις, meaning "disabling of the nerves" from παρά (para) meaning "beside, by" and λύσις (lysis) meaning "making loose". A paralysis accompanied by involuntary tremors is usually called "palsy".
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek (παραπληγίη) "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural (brain) elements of the spinal canal. The area of the spinal canal that is affected in paraplegia is either the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral regions. If four limbs are affected by paralysis, tetraplegia or quadriplegia is the correct term. If only one limb is affected, the correct term is monoplegia. Spastic paraplegia is a form of paraplegia defined by spasticity of the affected muscles, rather than flaccid paralysis.
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells. Isolating the inner cell mass (embryoblast) using immunosurgery results in destruction of the blastocyst, a process which raises ethical issues, including whether or not embryos at the pre-implantation stage have the same moral considerations as embryos in the post-implantation stage of development.
A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cord below the level of the injury. Injury can occur at any level of the spinal cord and can be complete, with a total loss of sensation and muscle function at lower sacral segments, or incomplete, meaning some nervous signals are able to travel past the injured area of the cord up to the Sacral S4-5 spinal cord segments. Depending on the location and severity of damage, the symptoms vary, from numbness to paralysis, including bowel or bladder incontinence. Long term outcomes also range widely, from full recovery to permanent tetraplegia or paraplegia. Complications can include muscle atrophy, loss of voluntary motor control, spasticity, pressure sores, infections, and breathing problems.
Nicholas Anthony Buoniconti was an American professional football player who was a middle linebacker in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Buoniconti played professionally for the Boston Patriots and Miami Dolphins, winning two Super Bowls with the Dolphins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
BrainGate is a brain implant system, currently under development and in clinical trials, designed to help those who have lost control of their limbs, or other bodily functions, such as patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or spinal cord injury. The Braingate technology and related Cyberkinetic’s assets are now owned by privately held Braingate, Co. The sensor, which is implanted into the brain, monitors brain activity in the patient and converts the intention of the user into computer commands.
Geron Corporation is a biotechnology company located in Foster City, California, which specializes in developing and commercializing therapeutic products for cancer that inhibit telomerase.
Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM) is the University of Miami's graduate medical school in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1952, it is the oldest medical school in the state of Florida.
Stem-cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease or condition. As of 2016, the only established therapy using stem cells is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This usually takes the form of a bone-marrow transplantation, but the cells can also be derived from umbilical cord blood. Research is underway to develop various sources for stem cells as well as to apply stem-cell treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
A spinal cord stimulator (SCS) or dorsal column stimulator (DCS) is a type of implantable neuromodulation device that is used to send electrical signals to select areas of the spinal cord for the treatment of certain pain conditions. SCS is a consideration for people who have a pain condition that has not responded to more conservative therapy. There are also spinal cord stimulators under research and development that could enable patients with spinal cord injury to walk again via epidural electrical stimulation (EES).
Jack Elliot Zigler is a Board Certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in spine surgery at the Texas Back Institute in Plano, Texas. He is best known for being the first surgeon to perform a ProDisc artificial disc replacement surgery in the United States, on October 3, 2001.
The University of Miami Division of Surgical Neurooncology is the neurological surgery center at the University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and one of the largest and most comprehensive programs for brain tumor treatment in the United States. It is located in Miami.
Barth A. Green MD FACS is professor and chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine in Miami. He is also the co-founder of Project Medishare for Haiti, with Dr. Art Fournier.
The Rehabilitation Trauma Center (RTC) at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) was founded in 1972 and is part of the only federally designated spinal cord injury center in Northern California. The center is one of the oldest spinal cord injury neurointensive care units in the United States and participated in the original National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Database collecting retrospective data to 1973. The center is currently a ten-bed unit based in the Sobrato Pavilion's Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit under the direction of Dr. Stephen L. McKenna. The center is known for ventilator weaning after catastrophic neurological injury.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first clinical trial in the United States involving human embryonic stem cells on January 23, 2009. Geron Corporation, a biotechnology firm located in Menlo Park, California, originally planned to enroll ten patients with spinal cord injuries to participate in the trial. The company hoped that GRNOPC1, a product derived from human embryonic stem cells, would stimulate nerve growth in patients with debilitating damage to the spinal cord. The trial began in 2010 after being delayed by the FDA because cysts were found on mice injected with these cells, and safety concerns were raised.
Arthur L. Jenkins III is an American fellowship-trained neurosurgeon, co-director of the Neurosurgical Spine Program, and Director of Spinal Oncology and Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery (MIS) Program at the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. Additionally, he is an associate professor of Neurosurgery and of Orthopedic Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Jenkins has multiple patents and patent applications for spine-related implants and support systems, and is developing new minimally invasive treatments for patients with cancer that has spread to the spine. He is an innovator in the treatment of acute spinal cord injury as well as degenerative and congenital anomalies of the spine, taking a minimally invasive or minimal-impact approach where possible. He is board certified in Neurological Surgery and is licensed in New York and Connecticut.
Spinal cord injury research seeks new ways to cure or treat spinal cord injury in order to lessen the debilitating effects of the injury in the short or long term. There is no cure for SCI, and current treatments are mostly focused on spinal cord injury rehabilitation and management of the secondary effects of the condition. Two major areas of research include neuroprotection, ways to prevent damage to cells caused by biological processes that take place in the body after the injury, and neuroregeneration, regrowing or replacing damaged neural circuits.
Mary Bartlett Bunge is an American neuroscientist currently researching a cure for paralysis at University of Miami, where she is a Professor of Cell Biology.
Stentrode is a small stent-mounted electrode array permanently implanted into a blood vessel in the brain, without the need for open brain surgery. It is in clinical trials as a brain–computer interface (BCI) for people with paralyzed or missing limbs, who will use their neural signals or thoughts to control external devices, which currently include computer operating systems. The device may ultimately be used to control powered exoskeletons, robotic prosthesis, computers or other devices.
Stem cell tourism, a form of medical tourism, is the internet based-industry in which stem cell procedures are advertised to the public as a proven cure. In the majority of cases, it leads to patients and families traveling abroad to obtain procedures that are not proven, nor part of a clinical trial approved by an authority like the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. These procedures have not gone through the vetting process of clinical research and they lack rigorous scientific support. Although for the general public, this advertising in glossy websites, may sound authoritative, for translational doctors and scientists this leads to the exploitation of vulnerable patients. These procedures lack the reproducibility, the rigor that is required for successful development of new effective medications. Although the term may imply traveling overseas, in recent years, there has been an explosion of "stem cell clinics' in the US which has been well documented. These activities are highly profitable for the clinic but no benefit for the patients, sometimes experiencing complications like spinal tumors, death, or financial ruin, all of which are documented in the scientific literature. There is a great deal of interest in educating the public and patients, families and doctors who deal with patients requesting stem cells clinics. In recent years, the FDA has become more active in overseeing stem cell clinics, taking a number of concrete steps including sending warning letters, putting out advisories, and in two cases filing suit in federal court to impose permanent injunctions on specific clinic firms.
References
- ↑ "Management and Faculty". Univ. of Miami. Archived from the original on 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ↑ "Message from the President". Univ. of Miami. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ↑ "Message from the Chairman". Univ. of Miami. Archived from the original on 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ↑ "Clinical Trials Initiative Update". Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
- ↑ "FDA Gives Miami Project Green Light for Phase 1 Clinical Trial". TheMiamiProject.org. July 31, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2017.
The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has received permission from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a revolutionary Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety of transplanting human Schwann cells to treat patients with recent spinal cord injuries.
- ↑ "The Lois Pope LIFE Center Will Be Top Neurological Research Facility In The World". LIFE. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ↑ "Lois Pope LIFE Center". Univ. of Miami. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ↑ "Lois Pope Life Center". Total Systems Commissioning, Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ↑ "Maps and Directions". Univ. of Miami. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2011-01-18.