by brettb on July 19, 2010
According to the New York Times, and as reported by the San Jose Mercury News, one of the nation’s leading brain imaging centers at Columbia University has be temporarily shut down after F.D.A. investigators found that the center had injected mental patients with drugs that contained potentially dangerous impurities.
Brain Imaging done with a MRI - helpful in the treatment of traumatic brain injuy
When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury or has a disease impacting the brain, scanning or imaging must be done in order to assess the injury and determine the best course of treatment.
To perform certain scans, doctors must first inject patients with a radiotracer, but if the tracer contains too many unknown chemicals, the injection may have harmful affects on the body.
The Kreitchman PET Center came under fire from the F.D.A. in December 2008 for violating federal regulations, and the agency raided the labs in January 2010 when the center failed to fix its lax quality control and sloppy procedures for formulating drug injections.
To perform certain scans, doctors must first inject patients with a radiotracer, but if the tracer contains too many unknown chemicals, the injection may have harmful affects on the body.
The F.D.A investigation found that “at least 10 batches of drugs had been released and injected into human subjects with impurities” above federal regulatory levels since 2007.
by brettb on July 16, 2010
When someone suffers a traumatic brain injury or other catastrophic injury, often that person also suffers damages to peripheral nerves within the nervous system.
Nervous system
Peripheral nerves are crucial in connecting the brain and spinal cord to the body. When they are damaged or do not function properly due to disease there is no movement or sensation. Nerve damage is also associated with pain, tingling and numbness, as well as a loss of coordination.
But researchers and scientist have discovered a method for enhancing nerve regeneration that could lead to new treatments for people who suffer nerve damage due to traumatic injuries like TBI or from diseases.
According to the online science publication Science Daily, University of Calgary scientists have developed a method to enhance nerve regeneration in the peripheral nervous system.
This regeneration is important in order for nerve cells that have been damaged due to a traumatic injury or disease to functional normally again.
Damage to peripheral nerves is common in catastrophic injuries and was previously thought to be irreversible.
Researchers examined the pathways that help nerves function, grow, and survive. They then looked at the molecular brake known as PTEN, which impacts normal cell growth after an injury. But by blocking this molecular brake, scientist could increase nerve growth.
The research has only been conducted with rat models and is in its early stages but scientists hope that it will lead to new treatments that will help injury victims and patients who suffer from nerve damage due to disease like diabetes or traumatic injuries like TBI.
