Paralysed Dogs Cured By Scientists

A study of pet dogs with severe spinal injuries suffered in accidents offers new hope for paralysed human patients.

Scientists restored movement to the dogs' hind legs by bridging breaks in the spinal cord using olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) taken from their noses.

The cells support nerve fibre growth that maintains a communication pathway between the nose and the brain.

One previously crippled dachshund, Jasper, was described by its owner "whizzing around the house" after undergoing the treatment.

The randomised controlled trial is the first to demonstrate effective spinal cord repair in "real life" injury cases.

Professor Robin Franklin, one of the study leaders from Cambridge University, said: "Our findings are extremely exciting because they show for the first time that transplanting these types of cell into a severely damaged spinal cord can bring about significant improvement."

In the trial, scientists studied 34 pet dogs that had all suffered spinal cord injuries as a result of accidents and back problems. None were injured deliberately for the sake of research.

One group of dogs had the OEC cells taken from the lining of their own noses and injected into the injury site. Another was only injected with the liquid in which the cells were suspended.

Dogs were tested for neurological function at one month intervals and had their walking ability assessed on a treadmill.

Those that had been injected with the OEC cells showed improved movement.

However Prof Franklin warned patients and their loved ones not to expect too much from the approach.

"We're confident that the technique might be able to restore at least a small amount of movement in human patients with spinal cord injuries, but that's a long way from saying they might be able to regain all lost function," he said.

"It's more likely that this procedure might one day be used as part of a combination of treatments, alongside drug and physical therapies, for example."

Jasper's owner, May Hay, from Cambridge, said: "Before the trial, Jasper was unable to walk at all. When we took him out we used a sling for his back legs so that he could exercise the front ones. It was heartbreaking.

"But now we can't stop him whizzing round the house and he can even keep up with the two other dogs we own. It's utterly magic."

Professor Geoffrey Raisman, chair of neural regeneration at University College London, said: "This is not a cure for spinal cord injury in humans - that could still be a long way off. But this is the most encouraging advance for some years and is a significant step on the road towards it."

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Paralysed Dogs Cured By Scientists

Dengan url

http://pusingkepalamu.blogspot.com/2012/11/paralysed-dogs-cured-by-scientists.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Paralysed Dogs Cured By Scientists

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Paralysed Dogs Cured By Scientists

sebagai sumbernya