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Project Walk and CSU San Marcos to begin NIH funded bone density study

2011-06-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Project Walk and CSU San Marcos were awarded a 4 year $400,000 grant (1 SC3 GM095416-01) from the National Institutes of Health to study activity based therapy and its effects on bone density. We are currently recruiting participants. The details follow:

There are approximately 12,000 spinal cord injuries (SCI) every year, with 80 % occurring in men. A primary complication of SCI includes severe reductions in physical activity which leads to muscle and bone loss as well as increased body fat. Treatment modalities to slow this deterioration in physical function include standing exercise, electrical stimulation, gait training, and resistance training, although their effectiveness is equivocal, as some studies show benefits of these exercise modes on muscle and bone health; whereas, others do not. Effective rehabilitation is needed in the SCI population to improve physical function, quality of life, and reduce risk of chronic disease.

The aim of the proposed study is to examine the effectiveness of 6 months of multi-modal training on bone health, body composition, and quality of life. Participants will complete testing consisting of a bone scan, blood draw, and surveys at 0, 3, and 6 months of the study. Training will consist of 2 – 3 d/wk of multi-modal training at Project Walk for 6 months, during which compliance to training will be monitored. You will be paid up to $600/month for your participation in the study.

UPDATE: This study is only for new clients or clients who have not participated in the Project Walk program for at least a year (whether at the facility or at home).

Please address any questions regarding the study to Primary Investigator Todd A. Astorino Ph.D at astorino@csusm.eduor co-investigator Eric Harness, Director of Research and Development at Project Walk, at eharness@projectwalk.org

So @CNN which is it, "snake oil" or "recovery"?

2011-06-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

On 5/24/11, CNN aired a video of Matt Courson walking across the stage at his graduation. First, let me say how amazing this accomplishment is for Matt and this post is not meant in any way to take away from that. Matt was a client at Project Walk for a while and left with a home program, so I have seen for myself how hard he has worked to get to this goal.

Now on to the reason for this post...

On 5/11/10, CNN did a story on one of our current clients, Kendell Hall, where they seemed to insinuate that we were giving people "false hope" and selling "snake oil".

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/05/11/cho.miracle.or.hoax.cnn?iref=allsearch

Unfortunately, I cannot find the version from AC 360 where Anderson Cooper has a long discussion with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about our program and "snake oil/ false hope". Where Cooper repeatedly makes the statement "but he is just a 'Trainer'.."

Almost exactly a year later (5/24/11) CNN airs this video on Matt Courson.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/tag/matt-courson-human-factor/

This video touts the science behind the KKI program and talks about "recovery" with no mention of "snake oil/ flase hope". Since we do a lot of the same types of activities (with more focus on load bearing and active assistive exercises at PW and larger focus on FES at KKI) and use similar, if not the same modalities, how is one "recovery" and the other "false hope"? Why did CNN fail to mention the research we have published?

Well that is my question for the day...any responses?

2011 ISCOS/ASIA International Conference on Spinal Cord Medicine and Rehabilitation

2011-06-04T12:21:00.001-07:00

Eric Harness will be speaking at this conference on Tuesday June 7th at 3:30pm. He will be attending the conference from June 4-7 and will be Tweeting from there.

Pictures from neurotrophin study

2011-05-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

The first picture is of the Whole Body Vibration set up.

The second picture is of me aliquotting serum from the blood draw tube to be placed in cryovials.

I would again like to thank the staff that supported me on Sunday, it would never happen without them...

Neurotrophin study to continue

2011-05-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

The "practice" run went very well on Sunday 5/15 and I would like to thank all of my volunteer staff for their help. We will continue testing this Sunday 5/22. I may take some pictures and post them up if I get a chance.

Neurotrophin study to begin this Sunday

2011-05-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

I would first like to thank Children's National Medical Research Center for providing the pilot funding for this study.

Research Strategy

The primary aim of this study is to examine effects of various modalities of exercise on alterations in neuroplasticity-related proteins in men and women with SCI. A secondary aim is to examine exercise-induced changes in these proteins across subjects differing in injury level and completeness of injury. Changes in circulating neurotrophic factors in approximately 15-20 individuals with chronic or sub-acute (> 8 weeks post injury) SCI will be measured. All will have a complete or incomplete SCI, and meet the following criteria: C2 or lower injury level, non ventilator-dependent, and physician’s permission to engage in an exercise program. Participants’ sensory and motor function will be assessed via Manual Muscle Testing (0-10 point rating scale for all major muscle groups) and the ASIA scale (rating of motor and sensory function) at baseline. Subjects will complete an exercise session lasting two hours, consisting of 30 minutes of load bearing with passive movement (this will consist of use of a standing frame with a glider attachment), 30 minutes of whole body vibration (WBV), 30 minutes of body weight support treadmill training (BWSTT), and 30 minutes of functional electrical stimulation (FES) leg ergometry. Compliance to exercise will be monitored to ensure that subjects complete all components of training. Blood samples will be obtained pre-exercise (baseline) and after completion of each modality. Circulating concentrations of the following neurotrophins will be measured: BDNF, GDNF , NT-3, IGF-1, prolactin, and cortisol.

We will be performing a "practice" run on May 15th to make sure we have all of the procedures down before beginning the actual testing.

American College of Rehabilitation Medicine Annual Conference presentation

2010-10-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

I was honored to be invited to give a presentation at the American College of Rehabilitation Medicine Annual Conference in Montreal today (Oct 23). I was on a panel with:
Candy Tefertiller (Former Clinical Program Director, Beyond Therapy, Atlanta, GA / Current Director of Physical Therapy, Craig Hospital, Denver, CO)

Paula Denison (Program Director, Center for SCI Recovery, Detroit, MI)

Giovanna Lazzeri (Chief of RIC Rehabilitation, Firenze, Italy)

Mike Jones (Vice-President Research and Technology, Shepherd Center, Atlanta, GA) was the moderator.

Our topic was "Activity-based Therapies in Spinal Cord Injury: Clinical Focus and Evidence Based Approach in Four Independent programs". We each talked about the approach our programs take toward recovering function in SCI. It was interesting to see how similar all of our approaches are, even the Italians are following similar guidelines and using similar modalities.

From this initial cooperation on this speaking panel, we hope to be able to continue on and collaborate on future research projects.

New co-authored research paper published

2010-04-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

My most recent paper has finally gone to press: Link to Journal

A tele-assessment system for monitoring treatment effects in subjects with spinal cord injury

Nuray Yozbatiran*†, Eric T Harness‡, Vu Le*†, Daniel Luu*†, Crista V Lopes§ and Steven Cramer*†

*Departments of Neurology and Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, California; †Reeve-Irvine Research Center, Irvine, California; ‡Project Walk Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center, Department of Research and Development, Carlsbad, California; §Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine, California, USA
Abstract

We developed a method for remote measurement of balance and leg force in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). In a group of 21 patients, both telemedicine and conventional clinical assessments were conducted at baseline and six months later. Telemedicine assessments were successfully acquired and transmitted at first attempt. The time required to set up the telemedicine equipment, position the subject, perform the measurements, and then send the data to the university laboratory was approximately 30 minutes. After six months, several motor and sensory functions showed significant changes. There were significant correlations between changes in remotely-measured leg force and changes in several of the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) sensory and motor scores. Changes in balance did not show any significant correlations with changes in the ASIA scores. Intra-rater reliability was better than inter-rater reliability. Use of telemedicine to remotely monitor changes in patients with SCI appears promising.

PMID: 20386036 [PubMed - in process]

Voluntary exercise increases oligodendrogenesis in spinal cord.

2010-04-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

Int J Neurosci. 2010 Apr;120(4):280-90.
Krityakiarana W, Espinosa-Jeffrey A, Ghiani CA, Zhao PM, Topaldjikian N, Gomez-Pinilla F, Yamaguchi M, Kotchabhakdi N, de Vellis J.

Intellectual and Developmental Disability Research Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen, School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

Abstract

Exercise has been shown to increase hippocampal neurogenesis, but the effects of exercise on oligodendrocyte generation have not yet been reported. In this study, we evaluated the hypothesis that voluntary exercise may affect neurogenesis, and more in particular, oligodendrogenesis in the thoracic segment of the intact spinal cord of adult nestin-GFP transgenic mice. Voluntary exercise for 7 and 14 days increased nestin-GFP expression around the ependymal area. In addition, voluntary exercise for 7 days significantly increased nestin-GFP expression in both the white and gray matter of the thoracic segment of the intact spinal cord, whereas, 14-day exercise decreased nestin-GFP expression. Markers for immature oligodendrocytes (transferrin and CNPase) were significantly increased after 7 days of voluntary exercise. These results suggest that voluntary exercise positively influences oligodendrogenesis in the intact spinal cord, emphasizing the beneficial effects of voluntary exercise as a possible co-treatment for spinal cord injury.
PMID: 20374076 [PubMed - in process]

Project Walk certifies a Level II Specialist outside of the Carlsbad facility

2010-04-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

For the first time in Project Walk's history, we have certified a Level II Specialist outside of our facility in Carlsbad. Jun Watanabe, the owner of J-Workout in Tokyo, successfully completed his practical and written exams for the Level II certification as of 4/2/2010.

Congratulations, Jun! We look forward to continuing our close relationship with you and J-Workout.

Another Fuel Use Pic

2010-04-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Fuel Use Pics

2010-03-29T18:10:00.001-07:00

New research project begins at Project Walk in collaboration with California State University, San Marcos

2010-03-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Alterations in Fuel Use During Multimodal Exercise in SCI

This project was originally started in 2008, however due to some equipment issues, I had to shut it down. I just got the equipment back (it is on loan from San Diego State....thanks SDSU) in February and have begun new data collection. So far I have completed 5 subjects and will be testing 3 more next week. I will post some pictures soon from this week's testing.

Eric

New videos on the Twitter feed!

2010-02-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Just posted a couple of new videos on the Twitter feed. You can check them out from the links on the right side of your screen.

Project Walk client Tom H featured in the Orange County Register

2009-11-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Click here for the story.

New Home Program Equipment List

2009-11-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

We just put up a new exercise equipment list for our Home Program and Train Your Trainer clients. It includes the SKU# for all equipment so you don't have to search all over each website for the correct product.
Equipment List

Please use the Power Systems link provided on the web page and you will be supporting Project Walk's mission with each purchase done through that link!

Thanks

Client Therese R featured in the San Diego Union Tribune

2009-11-18T10:03:00.001-08:00

Read the story here.

Project Walk discussed on Canadian TV, GlobalEdmonton

2009-11-18T09:56:00.000-08:00

Click here for the video.

It took a few seconds for it to load for me last time.

New Client Storyline

2009-11-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

Click here for the new client storyline on Rick K, a C5 spinal cord injury who started Project Walk at 10 years post injury.

http://www.projectwalk.org/client_spotlight/rickknoll.html

Project Walk and Walk On go Prime Time in Australia

2009-11-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

For the second time this year, Sunday Night, a prime time TV show in Australia has aired a story on Project Walk, our clients and our Provider in Brisbane, Walk On.

To view the Sunday Night story, please click on this link: http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunday-night/#fop and click on: "One Step at a Time"

Walk On was also featured on the Australian news show "7:30". Click on http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2733535.htm for text or http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200911/r464260_2296134.asx for video.

Due to the exposure, interest in Walk On has grown. There is currently a waiting list and they have recently started hiring the next generation of SCI Recovery Specialists. Additionally Walk On has announced the opening of another center located in Syndey.

Step It Up Recovery Center in Florida gets air time on Fox News.

Our friends in Florida have been making waves since opening their center last year. The staff has visited Project Walk for training. They have been working with clients and helping those individuals improve, drawing the attention of the local media.

To view the Fox News story, please click here: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/110309-Mom-helps-daughter-with-physical-rehab

Patrick Iveson on Good Day LA

To view the story on Patrick and his canine surfing buddy, click here:
http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/good_day_la/Paralyzed_Teen_Dog_Take_Up_Surfing_20091110

Welcome to the new blog!

2009-11-06T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I have just started this blog which I hope to update on a fairly consistent basis with some of the things that are happening here at Project Walk and in the spinal cord injury research arena. This, along with our Twitter feed, will hopefully keep everyone informed.

Thanks for looking in,
Eric