SCI cure is in the eye of the beholder

SCI cure.  Just what exactly is it and what does it mean?  We've all seen the avalanche of potential research and clinical trials involving stem cell therapy.  It's easy to get excited about it.  Why not?

Kate Willette

There are an estimated 13,000-14,000 individuals living in Northern California with some form of paralysis as a result of a spinal cord injury.  Another 600 or so join the ranks every year as a result of new injuries.

As NorCal SCI has reported in the past, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has been the biggest state agency in the U.S. involved in funding research using stem cells to develop potential cures for many diseases and disorders, including spinal cord injury.  Their success has been very limited at best, having devoted some $60 million in funding to various SCI research studies and trials with the only active clinical trial currently led by Asterias Biotherapeutics.  

They (CIRM and Asterias) have loudly touted the advances of that study which is great since anytime research is being done, we learn some new keys to unlocking the mystery of SCI.  Our friends at New Mobility magazine recently featured a column by Kate Willette.  Her most recent book, Don’t Call It a Miracle, was commissioned by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and you can get a free copy HERE. Since her husband’s C-6 injury in 2001, she has become a lively voice informing a worldwide community of people living with paralysis about the state of SCI research.  Read Kate's informative column HERE.