Why Don't We Have a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury? 2016

[Jim]

ChinaSCINet is the Clinical Trial Network Wise developed in China/Hong Kong. To date they have carried out 8 clinical trials for less than 2 million US. http://www.chinascinet.org/index.php...129&Itemid=174

[ctoom91]

Why Don't We Have a Cure for Spinal Cord Injury? There are no big thinkers anymore.Why take risks when you can make billion$ selling gadgets and apps and the crack like addiction of smart phones.Our tech bazillionaires are happy to leave the heavy lifting of neuroscience,health care,the environment etc. to the tax payer, which is a fools errand,the bureaucracy will never solve these problems,regardless of who is in office.Tesla's Elon Musk is a visionary and is dabbling in neuroscience but he's hooked on government handouts.One last thing,we're not on the PC victims du jour list of Hollywood,academia,congress and the media.
Billions spent every year on trivia and special interests,much of it wasted or redundant while the people trying to cure sci like Wise and Silver have to beg for funding,I don't see any change to the status quo anytime soon.

[tprewitt]

I wouldn't wish an SCI on anyone, but what would put a considerable focus on finding a cure is a president with a SCI.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was diagnosed has having polio. On January 3, 1938, he announced the creation of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, better known today as the March of Dimes Foundation. The March of Dimes used the funds raised to set up new research facilities to find a cure for polio.

The funding provided by the March of Dimes eventually lead to the development of the polio vaccine by Dr. Jonas Salk.

[#LHB#]

This may be way off, or maybe not. Ten years ago this sight was all the buzz and excitement about a cure and treatment. Ten years later I'm not sure we are much closer than we were. Damn I hope I am wrong. I wish nothing but the best for Dr Young, Silver and the rest. Its just depressing!

[Jim]

The SCI Community has no one to blame but ourselves. We have not organized and demanded a cure. When is the last time we lobbied our representatives for increased funding? Researches are working their asses off while we as a collective do nothing.

[Mize]

There are at least two things working against a cure:

1. Profitability
If someone creates a cure that doesn't require taking a pill for the rest of our lives then their company won't make much money.

2. Research dollars continuum
Researchers continue to get funding for things with promise that fizzle in later research phases. i.e. if you're a researcher and create something that can be commercialized then you are far enough along that you'll lose funding for your research.

[lynnifer]

The SCI Community has no one to blame but ourselves. We have not organized and demanded a cure. When is the last time we lobbied our representatives for increased funding? Researches are working their asses off while we as a collective do nothing.

I've heard this before and call BS. Remember the old stem cell Bush era thing and we all paid to send test tubes to Washington? Nothing ... the demonstrations in DC ... nothing.

It needs to happen to another Chris Reeve, as sorry as I am to say that.

[#LHB#]

I've heard this before and call BS. Remember the old stem cell Bush era thing and we all paid to send test tubes to Washington? Nothing ... the demonstrations in DC ... nothing.

It needs to happen to another Chris Reeve, as sorry as I am to say that.

I agree 100%. As bad as i feel saying it, we will have a cure when a person in a high place of power is paralyzed or their kid is. As far as the SCI community toting the blame I don't know about that. How many millions has TMP raised? Yet here we sit.

[Jim]

I've heard this before and call BS. Remember the old stem cell Bush era thing and we all paid to send test tubes to Washington? Nothing ... the demonstrations in DC ... nothing.

It needs to happen to another Chris Reeve, as sorry as I am to say that.

You call bs, but here we sit.

My point is, there has not been a sustained group effort/movement.

Our #'s and stories are very powerful and can make a huge impact. Not the inspirational bs, but the ugliness of SCI that we all know. We should be meeting in Washington every few years to fight for more funding.

If we don't mobilize and fight, we get what we get.

[paolocipolla]

You call bs, but here we sit.

My point is, there has not been a sustained group effort/movement.

Our #'s and stories are very powerful and can make a huge impact. Not the inspirational bs, but the ugliness of SCI that we all know. We should be meeting in Washington every few years to fight for more funding.

If we don't mobilize and fight, we get what we get.

I mostly agree with you Jim.

What has happened in SCI research it's a long story to explain to SCI people who recently joined the "SCI club", but before we ask for more funding we should make sure SCI research money has been spent properly, which, in my opinion, it's not the case.

I also believe the SCI community has been misled about what's has been done in SCI research so that they would just be happy with what's happening (all kind of SCI research is good) and all they can do is help raising more money for this or that foundation.

That's not going to make a cure happen. Just like doing one more trial with UCB cells is not going to help, but for sure it will absorb many millions that could be directed to find out how to regenerate the chronically injured spinal cord.

Just my opinion.

Paolo