The Australian of the Year award 2017 is truly appropriate. It’s the Holy Grail of neurology and medicine as a whole. Quadriplegia is a complex condition. Patients typically have only their heads functioning as a result of spinal injuries. It’s also the ultimate high maintenance condition, requiring 24/7 care and advanced systems to maintain life.
To achieve mobility is the equivalent of raising the almost-dead. The science is equally elegant. Professor Mackay-Sim, a nasal specialist, used stem cells from the nose, which the body uses to constantly repair cells in this hyperactive organ, he was able to deliver a form of regeneration to a quadriplegic patient.
If that sound pretty fabulous, it gets astonishingly better. Everyone has these stem cells. This means that at least some form of resources are available for every human being on Earth for a huge range of major conditions, in theory. The theory goes further, using the idea of cellular architecture for repair of severe traumatic conditions causing dysfunction, and more.
Tissue regeneration, particularly in the neural systems, is an almost indescribable aspiration for science and medicine. Nerve cells regenerate maddeningly slowly. Patients with severe nerve damage are in a state of dysfunction for dangerous periods of time, with or without regenerative options.
To have a built-in, scalable solution available from the stem cells in the nose is a fantastic discovery. Quadriplegia is perhaps the most difficult, toughest and most complex neural condition. What works on this murderous beast of a condition will probably work on anything else.
Prepare to be stunned by what’s possible with this new methodology. It’s just a matter of time before it revolutionizes the world of regenerative medicine.
