Word: brained
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Cuban specialists and that their diagnosis confirmed I was suffering from "deficiency polyneuropathy." They took me to a sports field, and Cambra explained to me that I would, in a very short time, recover the ability to walk straight and that it was a question of readaptation of the brain. Then, during a whole week of intensive exercises, I was made to walk up and down stairs, exercise in the gymnasium, even go out on the track in the worst of the heat...
Before attempting to repair the brain damage, Stein's team waited a week to allow for the natural accumulation of healing proteins called nerve growth factors. Then they implanted a pinhead-size lump of tissue that had been taken from the frontal cortex of normal rat embryos. The researchers used fetal cells because they are rich in growth factors and adapt easily to a new environment. Result of the operation: the brain-damaged rats were able to learn the maze in just 8½ days. While this is still slower than normal, says Stein, "the transplant was clearly producing...
According to Stein, the immediate lesson of his group's experiment is "that there is much more capacity for response to brain injury than previously thought." The same conclusion has been reached by researchers who have regenerated nerve fibers in other parts of animals' brains as well as in their spinal cords. At Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., for instance, Neuroscientist William Freed has treated rats with fetal cell implants to relieve symptoms resembling Parkinson's disease in humans. The implanted cells are capable of producing dopamine, a vital brain chemical lacking in the afflicted rats...
...House last year but defeated in the Senate. Congressman Henry Waxman, who opposes the amendment, argues that "fetal research saves lives, prevents or cures chronic diseases and makes pregnancy safer. As a result of such work, reductions in infant mortality and treatments for diabetes, as well as for brain disorders, are on the horizon...
...Ultimately, as researchers become able to identify the chemicals that give fetal cells their regenerative powers, they may find ways to synthesize these substances or to develop cell cultures that produce them in the lab. Unlocking these secrets "is the best hope we have for those who have lost brain cells because of a stroke, an injury or a degenerative disease," says Vernon Mark, director of neurosurgery at Boston City Hospital. "Right now," he adds, "it's the only game in town...