new methods that speed up recovery after nerve injury

[richinma2005]

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02 ... red-nerves

He says a damaged nerve is a bit like a bridge with a missing section. "What you'd want to do is put some sort of patch in there and rejoin the two halves," he says.

Bittner worked with Thayer and other researchers to come up with a multistep process that appears to do just that.

First they expose the severed nerve. Then they use chemical compounds to reverse a process that normally seals the nerve ends shut. At that point, they draw the two nerve ends together with tiny sutures and apply more chemicals that cause the nerve ends to fuse. This work is reported in a study published online in the Journal of Neuroscience Research.

The technique can be done entirely with chemicals that are already approved for use in people, Bittner says. And it produced very good results in a study of rats that had their sciatic nerve cut, he says.

That nerve controls the entire leg, paw and toes, and without it rats are badly disabled. But rats treated with his technique got better as soon as they began to recover from the surgery, Bittner says.

"You'd be hard-pressed to know which rats after several weeks had their entire sciatic nerve cut and which had a sham operation, never had it cut," he says

Bittner isn't the only one working on this technique. Researchers at Harvard are also involved. And Thayer at Vanderbilt hopes to try the approach on people within a year.

Meanwhile, researchers at Purdue University have reported success fusing nerves a different way — using a substance made from the shells of crustaceans.

[jmar]

is this called R.E.T.S. by any chance?

[Fred4545]

I don't know what Purdue has going on, but I did talk to Dr. Bittner about his process and he said it needs to be done within 2 - 14 days post-injury. I was really hoping it had a longer timeframe of success...maybe it's on the horizon...I sure hope so.

And since I'm a Boilermaker, I plan to find out what they have going on too.

Regards,

Jeff

[jmar]

this sounds similar to the R.E.T.S I had done last year. but it is a bit different. there was no chemicals involved. if you are looking for something like this call dr susan mackinnon in st louis MO. if you google her name, it will give you an 800 number to call. this is a fairly new procedure and it worked wonders on my hand and arm. i still have a lot of problems with my hand, but it is a lot better than what it was. no strength and no feeling is o.k. i would rather have the little bit of function than have the feeling and strength. at least i have a "helper" hand. good luck to you fred.

[Fred4545]

Hi jmar,

I went to St. Louis in January and met with Dr Tommy Tung (he works directly with Dr Mackinnon). I have a gameplan for fixing my hand with nerve and muscle transfers but I am going to Mayo Clinic next week on March 6-7 for testing and evaluation. Am just trying to get the best approach for me and my injury, then I will decide which offers me the best options.

Sounds like you are seeing some small improvements...that's awesome. I hope it continues fr you. Take care.

Jeff

[jmar]

actually, i am seeing small improvements NOW. i had MAJOR improvements for the first few months after my surgery. i will continue to improve over the next couple of years, but i will always have some problems with my hand and arm. if i keep up with the excercises and keeping using it as much as possible, i will do fine with it.