The Hope Center for Neurological Disorders has received a $10 million gift from the Danforth Foundation for research into the diagnosis and treatment of cerebral palsy and other conditions caused by injury to the brain and/or central nervous system.

About Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a group of neurological disorders that impairs movement and is caused by damage to the brain, usually before birth. However, what causes damage to the brain during this time is largely unknown. In some cases, damage can occur as a result of trauma during or shortly after delivery.

The condition is often diagnosed in early childhood, when symptoms begin to become more obvious. There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but various treatments can help improve an individual’s quality of life.

Another $10M for Research
Other conditions the research funding will support include:

• Parkinson’s disease
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Multiple sclerosis
• Stroke

The Hope Center was created in 2004 and represents a partnership between Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis and the public charity, Hope Happens. Over the next five years, the two organizations will raise another $10 million for the same research.

A woman who was recently diagnosed with myelogenous leukemia has filed a lawsuit against her former employer blaming them for her illness. The suit names 12 corporations for exposing her to benzene, a toxic chemical that is commonly linked to leukemia. The suit was filed in Madison County, Texas, early last week.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is typically used as an additive in various dyes, gasoline and synthetic rubber. Those who are exposed to the solvent over an extended period of time are susceptible to developing different forms of cancer like leukemia and lung cancer.

Leukemia Lawsuit Details

Paula Dangerfield was employed with Afton and Reilly Industries for over a decade and believes that during her employment she was wrongly exposed to benzene.

“By working with and being exposed to the aforesaid benzene-containing products, Plaintiff was cumulatively exposed to benzene,” the suit explains.

The twelve corporations are being accused of negligence due to the fact that Dangerfield was never warned of the dangers of the chemicals she was working with and around. Several of their products reportedly contain benzene, which in turn caused harm to employees like Dangerfield who worked with them daily.

Dangerfield also claims that during her employment she was forced to do work in areas that were marked “Benzene-Regulated Areas but was given no protective gear. She is hoping to be compensated for her mental and physical suffering as well as all medical expenses she is being forced to endure because of her health condition.

Biopure Corporation in Cambridge Massachusetts announced that it has had discussions with the Food and Drug Administration about starting a new human trial for it’s Hemopure product, a product already approved to treat anemia in dogs. The product is already approved for human testing in Europe and South Africa and has been for sale commercially in South Africa since 2001.

Hemopure is an oxygen therapeutic which was developed from chemically stabilized bovine hemoglobin and designed to be used as a blood substitute either because of short blood supply or for patients who for some reason refuse transfusions with human blood components.

Hemopure has been tested on humans in the United States but there were some safety concerns so further human testing was not allowed. The FDA and Biopure reached an agreement to do further animal testing to study those concerns and determine if another human trial could be started. Biopure wants to do a study of the product with patients who have Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).

“Currently, AML patients who do not accept blood transfusions are unable to undergo potentially life-saving induction chemotherapy because of the profound anemia the chemotherapy causes,” the company said in a press release.

Zafiris G. Zafirelis, Biopure chief executive and president, added in a statement, “By serving as an oxygen delivery bridge following chemotherapy-induced suppression of red blood cell count, use of Hemopure, as part of a bloodless treatment regimen, may potentially reduce mortality in these patients, who currently have no hope.”

The U.S. Naval Medical Research Center has received congressional funding - four million dollars, FY 2006, 22.5 million dollars so far - to continue research and development of Hemopure. Under its research agreement with Biopure, the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) has primary responsibility for designing, seeking Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acceptance of and conducting a proposed Phase 2/3 clinical trial of Hemopure in trauma patients with severe hemorrhagic shock in the out-of-hospital setting. Hemopure attributes would seem to make it an ideal medical component fot the military branches.

It is stable for 36 months (three years) at room temperature.

It does not require refrigeration, warming or reconstitution.

It is compatible with all blood types.

It does not require blood typing, testing or cross-matching.

It is ultra-purified through a patented pharmaceutical manufacturing process that has been demonstrated to remove or inactivate potential contaminants, including infectious agents.