Free Republic

Adult zebrafish are capable of regenerating their spinal cords after a complete severing injury. This close-up of the cells involved reveals supporting glial cells (shown in red) are first to cross the gap between the severed ends. Neuronal cells (green) soon follow. Duke Regeneration Next researchers discovered that a protein in the glia called connective tissue growth factor, or CTGF, is crucial for this process. Credit: Mayssa Mokalled and Kenneth Poss, Duke University ============================================================================================================================ A freshwater zebrafish costs less than two bucks at the pet store, but it can do something priceless: Its spinal cord can heal completely after being...

AP Medical Writer Doctors are following the playbook in treating Buffalo Bills football player Kevin Everett's severe spinal cord injury except in one notable regard: pumping icy cold saline into his veins to try to prevent further damage. Although the treatment is experimental, it is more science than science fiction, and also is being tried on stroke and brain injury patients. "There are compelling reasons why one might want to try it" in a case like this, said Dr. Gary Steinberg, chairman of neurosurgery at Stanford University. He had no role in Everett's case but has tested the body cooling...

Despite a glut of literature available on how to have more and better orgasms, science is only beginning to unravel the mysteries of the nervous system. The experiences of some paralyzed women prove how little we know: Though seemingly cut off from all feeling below the waist, some have found they still had orgasms when they tried sex. More mysterious still, some could have orgasms when touched in a spot on the trunk or neck just above the region of injury. One Philadelphia-area woman who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident was overwhelmed to learn she'd...

Very soon, perhaps in a few days or weeks, someone in the United States will injure his or her spinal cord and become paralyzed. They may crash their car, slip on ice or fall at a job site. UMDNJ is one of three sites nationally that is testing specially treated immune cells -- called macrophages -- that are injected into the spinal cord. The treatment may not help patients walk, but they may be able to regain sensations or recover some movement. Proponents want to open new avenues of research, and counter thinking that the spinal cord can never be...

McDonald said that he and Reeve had spoken about the possibility of donating his brain and spinal cord for study. But Goldberg said yesterday that there would be no autopsy.