My name is Antonio Conceicao. I’m a stroke survivor, with a serious physical disability, including moderate spasticity.

However, I think this is a “fight” that we can go winning!

Sunday 31 July 2016

Hope for spastic people: Marseille University test two treatments

The team "Plasticity and pathophysiology rhythmic motor networks" at the Institute of Neurosciences of La Timone (CNRS / Aix-Marseille University) has identified one of the molecular mechanisms responsible for spasticity. It also proposed two convincing therapeutic solutions in animals, one of which will be tested in Phase 2 of clinical trials since 2016. This work, published in the journal Nature Medicine in March 2016, can offer new opportunities to reduce this mobility impairment.
The research team tested two treatments on rats with spinal cord injuries. One of the molecules is an inhibitor of calpain. It’s used for a short time (ten days) restores the proper functioning of the sodium channel and sustainably reduces the extent of spasticity. Indeed, one month after the end of treatment, the positive effects continue. The other molecule tested, riluzole, acts as an inhibitor of persistent sodium current. It also reduces spasticity, even if its effects are temporary as it reappeared two weeks after the end of treatment. Yet the molecule is of great interest since it is already administered to patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Clinical trials phase 2, which will begin in 2016 in La Timone hospital, will test its effectiveness in the treatment of spasticity in patients with spinal cord injuries. In parallel, the team of Frederic Brocard continues to decipher the phenomenon of spasticity - specifically the involvement of calpain in the deregulation of the motor neurons – and to test other inhibitors of this enzyme that can be administered to humans.
For more information please click the link below:

Saturday 30 July 2016

Welcome to my blog!

I chose to start my blog “Spasticity Positive News” with a short video (the original is Catalan – thanks to Fundaciò Ictus, Barcelona!). This video answers the doubts about whether there is life after stoke. 
Is the life of a stroke survivor a “half-life” or… can it be a life with “double value”?