This is great news but I would be a bit cautious about it. I love the idea that stem cell therapy can cure spinal cord injuries but I know for a fact that spinal cord injuries are unpredictable as to what the long term impact will be.<p>Professionals in the field know that people with these injuries can regain mobility months and years after the accident.<p>I know of a few extreme cases where individuals were told they would never walk but within a few months were able to walk out of the hospital.There are other more common cases where movement to limbs increased in time.<p>I point this out not to throw water at the cure but it's a bit premature to celebrate and get people's hopes up without knowing the reality of the treatment.<p>I love the idea but one person does not prove a cure. I sincerely hope that Kris' improvement continues and that the therapy is as good as it's hoped.<p>The Christphere Reeves foundation has a great area on the subject.<p><a href="https://www.christopherreeve.org/research/reeve-stem-cell-research" rel="nofollow">https://www.christopherreeve.org/research/reeve-stem-cell-re...</a>
Potentially amazing news<p>Here's the direct Link minus the weird reblog of press release<p><a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paralyzed-man-regains-use-of-arms-and-hands-after-experimental-stem-cell-therapy-at-keck-hospital-of-usc-300323407.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/paralyzed-man-regain...</a>
> Once Kris made the decision to pursue enrollment in the study, dozens of doctors, nurses, rehabilitation specialists and others sprang into action. Because he would need to provide voice confirmation of his desire to participate in the study, Kris had to be able to breathe without a ventilator.<p>That is an interesting requirement. I don't think it's necessary. morse code via blinking isn't sufficient?
This is incredible. A non-speculative, non-hypothetical-petri-dish-stem-cell-potential announcement, but tangible, life altering progress that's happening now.<p>I hope they continue with the initiative and other institutions follow their lead soon if it proves successful.
I'm really pleased for this guy and hope he can continue to make progress.<p>Unfortunately the information content of these events is at best modest. After spinal cord injury you can get "spinal shock" which can last for a month or two. When it wears off you can recover a lot of previously lost function. As other comments point out bigger trials will be required to prove any efficacy.<p>Also there are many things in development to help acute spinal cord injury (some of which are FDA devices) but chronic SCI is a much thornier and challenging problem.
This is fantastic news. I can't but think of the many people that have contemplated assisted suicide that were in his position. This should give them hope.
San Diego man seeking help with effects of stroke gets stem cell treatments that leave him partially paralyzed and with mysterious tumor.<p><a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/20/patients-san-diego-stem-cell-companies-costly-unpr/" rel="nofollow">http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/sep/20/patients-san-diego-stem...</a>
Hope you don't hate me for kind of a joke comment, but it's extremely relevant:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtlkcQ6brE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtlkcQ6brE</a>