Hope

It is likely too late for my son. His injury is too old and too severe, but maybe someday soon a 17 year old thrown from a vehicle will walk again. A 14 year old who dove into a shallow lake will write his name again. A 29 year old mother with epidual problems will feel her her newborn nurse. It's time.

US approves first human embryonic stem cell therapy

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US authorities have approved the first human trials using
embryonic stem cells to test a pioneering therapy to help paralyzed patients
regain movement, the FDA said Friday.
"The FDA has granted its clearance for
a new drug application of Geron Corp for a phase one clinical trial of an
embryionic stem cell based therapy in patients with acute spinal cord injury,"
FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan told AFP.
Earlier, the California-based biotech
firm Geron Corp. announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had been
cleared to carry out human trials of a novel therapy called GRNOPC1.
"The
clearance enables Geron to move forward with the world's first study of a human
embryonic stem cell based therapy in man," Geron said.
The goal is to inject
cells into the spines of paralyzed volunteers, between seven to 14 days after
they are injured, hoping this will prompt the damaged nerve cells to regrow,
enabling them to eventually recover feeling and movement.
"This marks the
beginning of what is potentially a new chapter in medical therapeutics -- one
that reaches beyond pills to a new level of healing: the restoration of organ
and tissue function achieved by the injection of healthy replacement cells,"
said Geron's president Thomas Okarma.
Embryonic stem cells are highly
versatile, primitive cells capable of developing into any tissue of the
body.
"The neurosurgical community is very excited by this new approach to
treating devastating spinal cord injury," said Richard Fessler, professor of
neurological surgery at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern
University.
"If safe and effective, the therapy would provide a viable
treatment option for thousands of patients who suffer severe spinal cord
injuries each year."
The company stressed the therapy had been developed
using cells derived from the existing H1 human embryonic stem cell line, created
before August 9, 2001 when former president George W. Bush banned using new
lines of such cells for research.
Bush banned all federally-funded research
on new lines of embryonic stem cells, but the FDA's announcement may mark the
start of a shift in the nation's stem cell research policy under President
Barack Obama.
Obama said before his inauguration on Tuesday that he hopes
Congress will introduce legislation to overturn the ban, telling CNN he was
still exploring the idea of issuing an executive order to revoke Bush's
ban.
Stem cells are a source of huge interest in medical research. Supporters
point to the vision of material that can be grown in a lab dish and then
transplanted, regenerating tissues destroyed by disease, accident or
war.
Embryonic stem cells have triggered the most enthusiasm, but in the
United States they have been shadowed by controversy.
They are taken from
early-stage embryos, which are destroyed in the process, prompting some
religious groups to brand the process as unethical.
In blocking federal
funding for stem cell research, Bush sided with religious conservatives who
argue that research on embryos destroys human life, albeit at its earliest stage
of development.
Research into spinal injuries was given high-profile support
by "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in a riding accident at
the height of his career and died in October 2004.
Reeve long championed stem
cell research after his 1995 accident, and even accused Bush of obstructing
medical research which might help him.
Geron said it had submitted a
21,000-page dossier to the FDA to back up its request for the study, citing
evidence that the treatment was effective among lab mice and rats.
The
so-called Phase One trial will be conducted among a small group of patients with
"functionally complete" spinal cord injury, mainly to see whether the treatment
is safe.
Under a cautious three-phase procedure, two further sets of trials
then take place among progressively larger groups to see if the therapy is both
effective as well as safe.

Christopher Reeve died less than 2 months after my son's accident. Our lives were still centered on PICU hours and rehap schedules. 4 years later we have new lives, but they are not the same. That cloud is always there. That weight always on our shoulders. Knowing you will likely outlive your child. Watching dreams die a little more every day. We can't go back, but we can pray that someday soon families won't have to feel this pain, that they can look at old photos without crying. When Reeve died, so did a lot of people's hope in a cure. When Bush's policies became known, my own hopes died, my son's window of hope closed. I stear clear of politics usually, but this too important.

I have photos I could post here. I won't do that to my readers or myself. If anyone is offended or against this, I'm sorry for you. All I can say is not to judge until you've walked in those shoes, and don't choose your viewpoint without knowing all the facts, not the rhetoric.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if you feel compelled to leave religious, political or "blasting" comments about this post they will be deleted. I welcome comments, something of a "Comment 'ho" as Carolyn says, but there are lines.