A recent study for a viable spinal cord injury treatment may shortly have D.C. victims gaining hope and possibly standing for joy within the next few years.
Pengzhe (Paul) Lu, a neuroscientist at the University of California in San Diego has recently made a breakthrough in spinal cord injury regeneration. His recent study—involving growth factors and neural stem cells being grafted onto a specimen with an injured spinal cord—has yielded remarkable results. The combination of stem cells and growth factors help the nervous tissue rapidly produce and heal axons (nerve transmitters in the body).
Lu has seen significant improvement in reversing subacute injuries (spinal cord degeneration) in rats throughout his ongoing study. This is the first time in history that such results have been documented and Lu strongly believes that it will have the same results in humans.
However, at this time, motor skills are still very weak. He states in his findings, published in the September 14th issue of The Scientific Journal, that there is a definite improvement of motor function—it just isn’t as good as it needs to be. His test subjects had poor coordination and were unable to support weight on their hind legs.
He then further states that with the introduction of the growth cocktail, the stem cells were able to basically act as a new spinal cord, allowing the nerve cells to reconnect and thrive.
With a $3 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Lu believes that within three years, he will be able to solve the motor function setbacks as well as be able to safely and justifiably begin human test trials.
The D.C. spinal cord injury lawyers at Shevlin Smith congratulate Lu and wish him continued good luck in his fight for a spinal cord injury cure.