Posted on 10/29/2001 6:49:53 PM PST by Asmodeus
Monday, October 29, 2001
PIG-CELL PROCEDURE GIVES REEVE HOPE
By Bill Hoffmann
A new operation has sparked hopes that paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve may walk again.
The possibility comes after doctors successfully transplanted fetal stem cells from pigs into the spines of six paraplegic patients in an operation designed to restore their movement.
The pioneering procedure may offer hope to tens of thousands of people such as the tragic "Superman" star, who was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident.
Reeve is said to be keeping a close watch on the experiment, as his condition makes him suitable for the same therapy.
At a debate on stem-cell technology in America this summer, Reeve described how the procedure could help him.
"I suffer from something called demyelination," Reeve said. "That means that in one very small segment of my spinal cord, the coating, myelin, which is like the rubber coating around a wire, has come off. That keeps signals from the brain from getting down into the body."
Stem cells, he added, could be cultured and injected into his spine to repair the site. "They would know that their job is to re-myelinate. And then the signals from the brain would go down properly, and I would get recovery of function," he said.
The cells transplanted into the six patients have already started to grow. It is hoped they will soon bridge the myelin gaps in their spines.
John MacDonald, who’s leading the research at Washington University, said: "The changes that we are seeing are surprisingly impressive. Five years ago scientists said this was impossible. Now we know it is do-able. It is very exciting."
The operations completed earlier this month follow extensive lab and animal tests.
The therapy focuses on a new technique for regenerating activity in the spinal cord by getting the stem cell to trigger the regrowth of myelin.
"It is about simple electrical conductance. Wire transmits better if it is insulated," said Jonathan Dinsmore, senior director of stem-cell transplant research at Diacrin, the biotechnology company coordinating the study.
"The nerve fibers in the spinal cord need to transmit electrical signals, but without the myelin wrapping, the resistance is too big. The signal doesn’t get through."
The problem is that in people who have suffered paralysis, the myelin either does not grow, or it grows incorrectly.
Regardless, I wish him the best.
First we defeat terrorism, then we wipe disease from the face of the earth.
Cool.
I hope the pig cell therapy works for Reeves so he can give it a rest.
An unborn baby should be allowed to live to develop into child, its own person. An unborn baby's cells should not be treated and used as someone else's private cell warehouse--no matter how well-known and liked the "someone else" is.
Why not celebrate the positive on stem cell? This is a win. . .
"Was he one of the PETA crowd?"
Do not think PETA has a 'healthy' respect for Equestrians.
His shoes have been available for anyone to try and walk in; and he has barely used them the past few years.
Why the bitterness; reflects badly. . .with real possibilities of FR sounding like a 'DU' thread.
Am not one of Christopher's bigger or even big fans; but who knows just who his 'trials', may serve. . .and we might try and appreciate just what his life has been all about; since that day, more than a few years ago.
I'm sure the IEEE and the entire power industry would be surprised to hear this. What law of physics is it that states the conductance of a wire depends on the presence of insulation?
Removing the nucleus of cells that have been pulled out of a living zygote (er blastocyst) ain't any different than taking a liver or heart out of a Chinese prisoner ... er uh, 'non-voluntary donor' and sticking it in the chest of a wealthy Westerner.
To harvest from those that have no voice is downright depraved and wicked (albeit in the name of science or should I say 'convenience').
Hey, who doesn't want MS, or Alzheimers, or spinal cord injuries to all go away? We all do. But at what costs my friends? At what costs?
May God help us.
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