First Stem Cell Therapy Volunteer Comes Forward

April 20, 2011 - PRLog -- In 2010, the FDA announced that embryonic stem cell therapy trials were approved for the first time in the United States for spinal cord injury patients.  In November 2010, researchers injected millions of stem cells into an unidentified trial patient.  The trials and study-patient identities have, until recently, been shrouded in secrecy.

Rumors have begun circulating in internet chat rooms regarding the details of this guarded experiment.  In April 2011, the Washington Post announced that a 21-year-old nursing student, Timothy Atchison, of Chatom, Alabama received an embryonic stem cell injection.  

“I was the first patient,” Atchison declared in the Washington Post telephone interview on April 6, 2011.  

Atchison reported his car crashed on September 25, 2010 and he was paralyzed from the chest down as a result of the accident.  Atchison noted the date of this car crashed was also the birthday of Christopher Reeve, the actor who sustained a catastrophic spinal cord injury.  

After initial treatment at a regional medical center, Atchison was transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in spinal cord injury and rehabilitation.  Thirteen days afterwards, doctors injected more than 2 million stem cells of embryonic origin into his spine.  Atchison would not comment on whether there was any evidence that the treatment was currently helping, but he did comment that there will be follow up testing and care.  

Dr. Dennis Lox, a Tampa Bay-area physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, comments that since the announcement that the FDA had approved clinical trials of embryonic stem cells in spinal cord injured patients, the medical community throughout the world is awaiting the outcome of these studies.  

There are seven university centers in the United Stated participating in this trial.  Dr. Lox notes that the Shepherd Center in Atlanta is renowned for its care in spinal cord injury.  

Dr. Lox points out that Atchison is the first patient that has come forward with the stem cell therapy.  

“It is premature to extrapolate on what the outcome may be, “said Dr. Lox, “and until the results of multiple patients have been released, we must wait to understand the impact that this may have.”
Dr. Lox suggests that, due to the catastrophic nature of spinal cord injuries, if even a fraction of the study patients experience a positive response, this would be significant.  

The stem cell therapy trial has been FDA approved, but is being funded privately by a biotech company from California, the Geron Corporation.  

“It will be interesting to see if there is a positive outcome in these initial spinal cord injury trials and where FDA approval for ongoing trials will go next,” added Dr. Lox.  “There is a vast array of multiple life threatening illnesses that may potentially benefit from stem cell therapy trials.”


http://www.DrLox.com

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Dennis M. Lox, M.D. is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Since 1990, he has used sports medicine techiques and cutting-edge technology to help heal musculoskeletal injuries and relieve pain.