Amputations

[Christopher]

There have been successful stem cell surgeries done on mice in which the had their brachial plexus avulsed and reattached with stem cells placed at the area of damage & stem cell therapy after surgery.

On the issue of atrophied muscles, the main issue is the muscle plate (the area of neural transmission, where the nerve connects to the muscle and relay of axon cell impulse turns into muscle fiber contraction) stops working & turns fibrous. The Muscle Plate can shut down anywhere from 9 months to 3 years. But there have been recent positive studies where nerves are simple being plugged into muscles and the muscles are responding. And that is not in conjunction with any stem cell therapy. So who knows what is possible?

The problem is we don't know the answer till it's answered.
I have some biceps function and some hand function, & I still think of amputation on almost a daily basis. I know I should be grateful, but I don't have the freedom from this ball and chain to be spontaneous, to run, jump, dive, roll, dance.... you all know, but I can hold a beer while my good hand opens it, so for now, that trade off is winning. If I have to join A.A. then I probably do the cut, but I wont know till then.

I think if stem cell surgeries come around soon, so will arm transplants.

Best of luck to you John, I sure what ever decision you make will be the right one. As long as you decide to make it the right one.

Chris

[Christopher]

Here is an exerpt from a stem cell surgical experiment on rats that was documented on PBS...

Narrator: Experiments on rats have yielded promising results. In one trial in the UK, scientists cut the nerves that lead to the animal's left forepaw. With such an injury, the rat could no longer use the paw to climb effectively. Nor could it use that paw to reach for its food. Stem cells were then harvested from the animal's nose and transplanted around the damaged nerve. Within weeks, the treatment produced noticeable results.

Geoffrey Raisman: We've been able to restore the ability to climb. We've been able to restore complex reaching and control movements of the use of the forepaw. The sort of functions that a patient would want to recover if they didn't have the use of their hand. When we transplant the cells into that area of damage, the function comes back. You're seeing a glimpse through a doorway that has never been opened before.

This is what will get people out of wheelchairs. This is what will make stroke patients get better. This is what will restore the optic nerve in blindness, and the auditory nerve in deafness. If we can push that door open, there's an immense amount behind it. This will be revolutionary if we're successful.

Geoffrey Raisman: Here in this electron microscopic image, we're looking at a mass of stem cells harvested from the nose and have been transplanted into a rat's spinal cord. You can see this pale, this grayish area, with the two blobs. These are the transplanted stem cells. So here you can see the degree of intimacy in the relationship between the nerve fibers, which are growing, and the transplanted cells, which are making them grow.

So there's a nerve fiber, it's a nerve fiber which has been repaired, it's regenerated. And this is the nucleus of a transplanted stem cell, and you can see how the stem cell is wrapping round that nerve fiber. And here's another stem cell, and here it is wrapping around another nerve fiber. What you're seeing here is an act of creation by these cells.

Narator: The stem cells surround and support the rat's damaged nerve cells, giving them the ability to heal and regain function.

Geoffrey Raisman: We get consistent reconnection and restoration of function.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/innovation/tran ... sode6.html

[admin]

There are two types of bpi in my mind , those with the use of the hand and those without.

Without meaning to sound blunt, If you have no hand function after a year or so then you very unlikely to regain any.

If you can use the hand theres plenty of scope for improvements.

I know for a fact if my hand was paralized id defanately have the chop, BUT thats only after listening to you guys

[admin]

There are two types of bpi in my mind , those with the use of the hand and those without.

Without meaning to sound blunt, If you have no hand function after a year or so then you very unlikely to regain any.

If you can use the hand theres plenty of scope for improvements.

I know for a fact if my hand was paralized id defanately have the chop, BUT thats only after listening to you guys

[karlos]

There are two types of bpi in my mind , those with the use of the hand and those without.

Without meaning to sound blunt, If you have no hand function after a year or so then you very unlikely to regain any.

If you can use the hand theres plenty of scope for improvements.

I know for a fact if my hand was paralized id defanately have the chop, BUT thats only after listening to you guys