The Excitement is Building
Geron Corp. made national headlines recently by getting the FDA to allow
human trials on 10 patients. These are what we’ve been waiting for! This
summer Geron will take 10 people with acute injuries- injuries less than two
weeks old- and inject embryonic cells into the injury site then have the
patients go through extensive restorative therapy. This all sounds so simple
since they’ve tested this over and over again on lab animals and have had
huge success. The animals regain bladder function and most actually
walked again. Our dreams are really going to happen. I feel fortunate that it
is within my lifetime.
The catch, and there’s always a catch, is that once an injury passes the two
week window, scar tissue begins to build on the site and that blocks the
inhibitors that attach to each end of the injury. This is a major problem for
SCI because 99% of people with SCI are past the 14 day window or labeled
as chronic. There are over 500,000 chronic, spinal cord injured individuals
in the U.S. alone.
The Spinal Cord Society has been addressing this problem for years and
they have a very reliable remedy to the chronic scar tissue issue. This
involves another injection and it in turn dissolves the scar tissue and brings
a chronic patient back to acute stages which makes everyone a candidate
for Geron’s fix.
These are exciting times. We're not naive enough to believe that this one
trial is our golden ticket but the progress being made is sure golden. Since
there are more than two laboratories throughout the world seeking a cure for
SCI it only stands to reason that the real race to find a 100% cure has now
begun. Then again, this one trial could be the finish line.
We cannot stop fund raising until the race is over. At the same time we now
have to start concerning ourselves with the aspects of restorative therapy-
retraining the body to function as it once did. Years of atrophy and limited
range of motion will all need to be addressed in the near future.
Our northwest chapter is proud to be partnering with the Michael-Ryan
Pattison Foundation (MRPF) this year to help conquer our goals. The MRPF
is totally focused on breaking ground for a new restorative therapy center in
the Seattle city limits. On Saturday, June 27, 2009, together we will be
hosting the 1st Annual Black-Tie Bingo Night at Rainier Golf & CC.
We are excited about this new fund raiser and even more excited by the
potential research conclusions. For more information regarding the MRPF
see www.acureiscoming.com. To see sponsorship opportunities or to sign
up for Bingo Night click here.
Be apart of the excitement!
human trials on 10 patients. These are what we’ve been waiting for! This
summer Geron will take 10 people with acute injuries- injuries less than two
weeks old- and inject embryonic cells into the injury site then have the
patients go through extensive restorative therapy. This all sounds so simple
since they’ve tested this over and over again on lab animals and have had
huge success. The animals regain bladder function and most actually
walked again. Our dreams are really going to happen. I feel fortunate that it
is within my lifetime.
The catch, and there’s always a catch, is that once an injury passes the two
week window, scar tissue begins to build on the site and that blocks the
inhibitors that attach to each end of the injury. This is a major problem for
SCI because 99% of people with SCI are past the 14 day window or labeled
as chronic. There are over 500,000 chronic, spinal cord injured individuals
in the U.S. alone.
The Spinal Cord Society has been addressing this problem for years and
they have a very reliable remedy to the chronic scar tissue issue. This
involves another injection and it in turn dissolves the scar tissue and brings
a chronic patient back to acute stages which makes everyone a candidate
for Geron’s fix.
These are exciting times. We're not naive enough to believe that this one
trial is our golden ticket but the progress being made is sure golden. Since
there are more than two laboratories throughout the world seeking a cure for
SCI it only stands to reason that the real race to find a 100% cure has now
begun. Then again, this one trial could be the finish line.
We cannot stop fund raising until the race is over. At the same time we now
have to start concerning ourselves with the aspects of restorative therapy-
retraining the body to function as it once did. Years of atrophy and limited
range of motion will all need to be addressed in the near future.
Our northwest chapter is proud to be partnering with the Michael-Ryan
Pattison Foundation (MRPF) this year to help conquer our goals. The MRPF
is totally focused on breaking ground for a new restorative therapy center in
the Seattle city limits. On Saturday, June 27, 2009, together we will be
hosting the 1st Annual Black-Tie Bingo Night at Rainier Golf & CC.
We are excited about this new fund raiser and even more excited by the
potential research conclusions. For more information regarding the MRPF
see www.acureiscoming.com. To see sponsorship opportunities or to sign
up for Bingo Night click here.
Be apart of the excitement!
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