For years, researchers have been trying to find a way to end
cerebral palsy (CP), and a new report confirms they may be close. They gave rabbits that had CP an anti-inflammatory
pill. Results of the study will be
printed in the journal Science Transitional Medicine.
Rabbits who received the pill were able to walk and
hop. These tasks were very hard for them
to do before receiving the medicine.
Researchers state this shows significant improvement in the rabbits with
CP and they hope it shows parallel effects on people with CP if given the pill.
“This is an exciting breakthrough and it certainly points
toward new hope for those affected by cerebral palsy,” said Rangaramanujam
Kannan, a chemical engineer at Wayne State University who worked on the study.
“More questions need to be answered, but the potential is immense.”
Rabbits were given the drug the day they were born so this
is why more research has to be gathered before human testing. Since the pill was received by the rabbits
early in life, researchers don’t know how the pill will react beyond the
infancy stage. They are also using the
same pill to test effects of Alzheimer’s disease.
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