Antibody treatment 'may improve lives of spinal cord injury patients'RSS Feed

A major grant for research into a new antibody treatment for spinal cord injury patients could help doctors reduce the effects of a spinal injury.

The US defence department has given over $1 million (£680,000) to the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario for its study into antibody treatments.

It is hoped that the antibody treatment will see clinical trials as a result of the grant, following successful studies carried out on mice.

The antibody works by reducing inflammation of tissue surrounding the spinal cord and is designed to be intravenously injected into the patient within 24 hours of the injury, explained Gregory Dekaban, one of the research team.

"In our preclinical models, it's been shown to make a significant improvement in recovery. This antibody treatment could also be effective for traumatic brain injury," he added.

The US military is keenly interested in the research team's findings as around a quarter of wounded personnel suffer a form of spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Army operations in Afghanistan have resulted in a particular new type of TBI as a result of improvised roadside bombs, new finding from the US military have shown.

Serious Law, leading spinal cord injury solicitors

Posted by Matthew Heap

Doctors reduce radiation exposure in brain injury patients

22 June 2010

A clinical study in the US has revealed how sufferers of strokes - a major cause of acquired brain injury - could be exposed to less radiation during computed tomography (CT), angiography (CTA) and CT...

Read More...

Shorter hospital stays for acquired brain injury patients

21 June 2010

Patients suffering from one of the main causes of acquired brain injury - brain tumours - could spend less time in hospital recovering from surgery by staying awake during part of their operation, a new...

Read More...

Council fined after worker suffered fatal brain injuries

18 June 2010

East Ayrshire council has admitted that it failed the family of a man who died following a severe brain injury sustained in an accident at work.The Scottish local authority was fined £56,000 after...

Read More...