New Medicines May Help the Paralyzed

The victims of spinal injuries who have been paralyzed may have new hope with medicines that are being developed at Stanford University, California. Researchers at the University have used the experimental drug on mice with no movement in their lower limbs.

They claim that the medicine currently called LM11A-31 has helped the mice to walk with well coordinated steps and even reproduce swimming motions. The mice were given three oral doses of the medication while a control group was given placebos. The medicine was administered at 4 hour intervals to the mice.

The medicine which was repeated for a period of 42 days did not have any toxic side effects on the mice. It did not cause an increase in the pain levels for the animals and crossed the blood brain barrier efficiently. Certain chemicals are unable to do so.

Scientists agree that this is the first time that an oral medication has proved to be an effective therapy for spinal injuries. Most earlier therapies were of a far more invasive nature and did not always guarantee good results. Perhaps the functional improvement found in the mice would be further enhanced when the drug is improved upon in the science project and human trials begin.