MetaFilter posts tagged with musculardystrophy

Bradley Walker

BitterOldPunk — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:17:05 -0800

Perhaps the greatest country baritone since George Jones is confined to a wheelchair by muscular dystrophy and has a day job at a nuclear power plant. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Bradley Walker. But it ain't all slow mournful stuff like "When I'm Hurtin'" -- Bradley can straight-up tear it up, too. Here's the video for the single "A Little Change" off Walker's excellent 2008 release "Highway of Dreams" (link goes to NPR audio review). Here's Bradley covering Merle Haggard's "Back to the Barrooms". And here's a somewhat mawkish video bio put together by his record company. WARNING: This post contains unapologetic, unironic, heartfelt country music that may contain sentiments about Jesus, patriotism, and other topics that may run counter to prevailing MetaFilter opinions. It also features poor audio quality, shaky amateur video, and blatant boosterism for a performing artist that I like. I am aware that almost everything I like does, in fact, suck.

28 Days Later...more stem cells!

Asparagirl — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:32:43 -0800

Scientists have discovered that "endometrial regenerative cells" (ERC's) -- in other words, human menstrual blood -- contains stem cells. ERC-derived stem cells seem to have a number of superior traits to both bone marrow derived and umbilical cord derived stem cells, the previous gold standards: they can give rise to a variety of different cell lines without differentiation, they multiply more quickly than other stem cells, they are able to replicate more times without adversely mutating, and they apparently do not need to be closely genetically matched to the recipient. Now some women have even begun banking their menstrual blood to preserve their stem cells through a company called "C'Elle: Your Monthly Miracle" -- check out their FAQ and online video. This follows last May's announcement that menstrual blood derived cells can pretty much cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in mice, a disease for which there is no current therapeutic treatment available.

ZachsMind — Mon, 02 Sep 2002 15:58:46 -0800

Does the MDA Labor Day telethon do more harm than good from a cultural perspective? Sure the money helps to find a cure, but does it cause 'normal' people to feel undue pity for the physically challenged? Is Jerry Lewis doing more harm than good for the cause? [MORE..]