Advances In Healing Spinal Cord Injuries

University of California, Irvine researchers have discovered a way to turn human embryonic stem cells into cells that seem able to repair damaged spinal cords. The scientists injected the stem cells into paralyzed rats, and six weeks later the rats were walking around their cages. The researchers are close to beginning trials with humans, and while results of those trials are probably years away, it’s still encouraging news.

In another development, the National Institutes of Health reported in June that researchers have found that the vitamin folate appears to promote healing of damaged spinal cord tissue. Scientists performed experiments on rats that found that injecting folate led to measurable improvements in spinal cord healing. Interestingly, as the dose of folate that researchers injected got higher, improvements became even more pronounced. At their peak dose, the scientists measured a tenfold increase in spinal cord healing. What’s really encouraging is that folate is a type of B vitamin that occurs naturally in foods such as beans and green leafy vegetables. The chances of there being adverse reactions are reduced.

Of course, both of these areas of research are in early stages and more study is needed, but the results are encouraging. I’m glad to see that medical science is working on it. If we’re lucky, our spinal cord-injured clients may get some good news in the fairly near future.