Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury
Helping those with Spinal Cord and Nerve Injuries
Research discoveries in axonal guidance and regeneration, spinal cord networks and nerve degeneration can be translated into clinical application. The intent of translational work in this program aims to regenerate and/or reconnect axons and ultimately, nerves.
Clinician researchers working in this field apply these discoveries to patients, in hopes of repairing nerve damage which can happen with spinal cord injury or even diabetic neuropathy.
Click here for a list of HBI members affiliated with the Spinal Cord and Nerve Injury Research Program.
Spotlight on Research
Insulin Nasal Spray Could Help Diabetics Suffering from a Debilitating Nerve Disease
Clinical scientists at the HBI have started a pilot study for local patients with type 1 diabetes, looking at the delivery of insulin through the nose as a potential new treatment for diabetic neuropathy, a diabetic nerve disease.
About 50 percent of people with diabetes will develop the debilitating and painful nerve disease. Currently, the treatments for diabetic neuropathy are limited to pain management. The lack of effective treatment options is prompting excitement about the potential of this new approach.
Dr. Cory Toth, a neurologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, is co-leading the new study. His laboratory work, which demonstrated that intranasal (delivered through the nasal passageway) insulin helps protect nerves in the brain and central nervous systems of mice, was published in the journal Diabetes.
Now Toth will measure the impact on people. “The patients that I see in my practice develop problems where they can’t feel their feet, stub their toes, develop wounds, and also deal with severe pain.”
Jessica Revell is a 21 year old who has type I diabetes. She hopes the new treatment can help her. Sometimes her pain is so severe she can’t sleep and she requires strong painkillers. She’s also had to withdraw from school courses and stop working. “If I could get off the pills I’m on and inhale a spray, I could get back to school full time to work towards my education degree. It would make a huge difference in my life,” she says.
Toth says his research shows that nerves are deficient in insulin and that delivering drugs through the nose targets the nervous system while insulin delivered under the skin provides enough insulin to regulate sugars in the body but leaves insufficient amounts for nerves.Toth likens it to the nerves starving for insulin.
