10 replies to this topic

[mcferguson]

CHATOM, Ala. — When Timothy J. Atchison regained consciousness, he was drenched in blood and pinned in his car on the side of a dark rural road.

“I was just pouring blood,” said Atchison, 21, who said he recoiled in pain when he tried to drag himself through a window of the wrecked Pontiac, a high-school graduation gift. “I didn’t know if I was going to bleed to death or not.”

Then, Atchison said, he realized that his legs felt strangely huge — and completely numb. He was paralyzed from the chest down.

“I was just praying — asking for forgiveness and thanking God for keeping me alive,” said Atchison, who was trapped for at least an hour before rescuers freed him. “I said, ‘From here on out, I’m going to live for you and nothing else.’ I never got down after that. I figure that’s what must have kept me up — God keeping me up.”

More: http://www.kentucky....-will-says.html

[paul1404]

I 'm a believer

[sam4012]

McFeguson:
Sounds like maybe the cells worked or was it the physical therapy? I think Geron should start testing their product on chronics that are 5yrs or more have had a spinal cord injury. I'm following the clinical trials in New Zealand using nose cells for chronic spinal cord injury. Six weeks ago the company was waiting for their federal approval for the clinical trial used in chronic spinal cord injury.

[mcferguson]

sam4012, on 19 April 2011 - 03:55 PM, said:

McFeguson:
Sounds like maybe the cells worked or was it the physical therapy? I think Geron should start testing their product on chronics that are 5yrs or more have had a spinal cord injury. I'm following the clinical trials in New Zealand using nose cells for chronic spinal cord injury. Six weeks ago the company was waiting for their federal approval for the clinical trial used in chronic spinal cord injury.

could be the cells, but it is difficult to tell with an acute injury. i wonder what their metrics will be to determine if the cells are effective. my guess is that if all 10 of their patients recover function, that would be a good indicator that the cells work. this trial, though, is focused on safety, so i wouldn't expect any firm effectiveness data to come out of it.

[Tetracyclone]

Geron is not trying for effectiveness with this study, but only for safety. If safety is demonstrated then they can get approval for a much larger and more complicated trial to test efficacy.

[twentieth]

You better vote Democrat if you want stem cell research to continue...

[pinkcloud]

This may make a few people unhappy here yet heck its how I feel.

I am all for stem cell. Especially if it means walking without pain, cure for AD, bladder and bowels being fixed etc etc

In me early days of medical secretary-ing, I worked in ths NHS and present to you some facts, not nice facts...but facts still the same. I came accross a lot of religous people whom would have repeat termination of pregancy because they found out they were having a girl.It was then bought in that scans would no longer inform the parents of the sex, I think they do now. Also young girls whom treated terminations as a further version of the morning after pill. Of course there are circumstances when terminations are used for genuine reasons, a young girls life would be ruined, rape etc, pill didnt work, girl got drunk ... Terminations can carry much guilt - wouldnt it be better if the fetus was used to help save lives? After all, we have donar registers for when we as humans pass away.

Yet if the baby is lost thorough traumatic circumstances, by parents whom want the baby - then no, without their consent this ought to not be allowed. Again, this may help some parents deal with their grief if they had an option to donate.

What would concern me is how do the scientists know these cells are not diseased? I speak from a lay-mans view so these are medically-uneducated thoughts, anyone with knowledge I would be interested in your views.

[pinkcloud]

whoops double clicked again to duplicate sorry.

Edited by pinkcloud, 20 April 2011 - 09:55 AM.

[pinkcloud]

p.s. this isnt a post to arouse upset, sarcastic comments etc...a genuine response and you never know some scientist may read it and think further....we can but try.

Edited by pinkcloud, 20 April 2011 - 09:54 AM.

[jules]

Pinkcloud, I am a scientist, but not a research scientist I am a diagnostic scientist. You can't tell that a stem cell is not diseased, however it is very unlikely to be. A stem cell is a cell in its most basic form before it has become mature. Diseases e.g. cancer are a result of damage to the DNA of a cell which allow the cell to either become immortal or allow the cell to "reproduce" without the usual intra cellular mechanisms which prevent this.

Stem cells because they are in their most basic form are unlikely to be diseased, what isn't yet fully known is that whether these cells may be more likely to undergo genetic mutations leading to disease. It doesn't appear so far that they have any more risk.

Hope this helps

[pinkcloud]

Thanks Jules, this sure is interesting to know and you speak well so I understood what this means. I feel this is real interesting and seeing as if my condition reaches an extremely bad stage, I would consider it as I would have nothing to loose and if it was to help others, then at least something good would come out of me having sci