This research study appears encouraging although it only shows its potential in acute cases. There is no evidence to show its effectiveness for treatment well after the onset of the spinal cord injury, even in combination therapy. So I won't be holding my breath and just keep doing what I'm doing in turning to alternative medicine....Here's an excerpt.
While much more research is needed, including work to understand whether the same process occurs in people, the chemotherapy drug (also known by its generic name paclitaxel) holds promise as a future treatment for spinal cord injuries, the researchers said.
It also improved the rats' ability to walk. After six to eight weeks of treatment, the researchers gave the rats a test in which they were required to walk on sticks. Normally, rats can do this well, but after a specific type of spinal cord injury, their back paw tends to misstep and slip through the pencils. The injured rats treated with Taxol frequency made fewer of these missteps, Bradke said.
The study is novel and interesting and "opens up a new avenue towards a potential therapy, combined with others, of course, that can help foster regeneration after spinal cord injury," said Jerry Silver, a professor of neuroscience at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, who was not involved with the study.
The study was published today (Jan. 27) in Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science. Pass it on: The drug Taxol holds promise as a therapy for spinal cord injuries, though further research in humans is needed.
Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @Rachael_MHND.
Read the complete article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41298469/ns/health-cancer/
The cancer drug Taxol stimulates the growth of nerve cells in the spine after a spinal cord injury, and reduces scarring in these cells, according to a new study in rats.
It also improved the rats' ability to walk. After six to eight weeks of treatment, the researchers gave the rats a test in which they were required to walk on sticks. Normally, rats can do this well, but after a specific type of spinal cord injury, their back paw tends to misstep and slip through the pencils. The injured rats treated with Taxol frequency made fewer of these missteps, Bradke said.
The study is novel and interesting and "opens up a new avenue towards a potential therapy, combined with others, of course, that can help foster regeneration after spinal cord injury," said Jerry Silver, a professor of neuroscience at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, who was not involved with the study.
The study was published today (Jan. 27) in Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science. Pass it on: The drug Taxol holds promise as a therapy for spinal cord injuries, though further research in humans is needed.
Follow MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner on Twitter @Rachael_MHND.
Read the complete article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41298469/ns/health-cancer/
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