Keep in mind this isn’t peer reviewed, hasn’t been replicated, and was released as part of a PR move, but get this:
From May 2006 to January 2007, 25 patients with SCI were treated at Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil, Ecuador. They were treated with autologous bone marrow stem cells—meaning the cells were extracted from the patients’ own bone marrow.
Fifteen patients (60 percent) could stand up, ten patients (40 percent) could walk on the parallels with braces, seven (28 percent) could walk without braces, and four (16 percent) could walk with crutches. Patients demonstrated improvements in sensitivity, motility, bladder sensation, even controlling sphincters, erection and ejaculation. No adverse event was observed.
No one should tout this as a cure, or even yet a proven treatment. It is very preliminary human subject research. There is a very long way to go before this could be available, even if it pans out. But there is great hope out there.
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