HealthBeat: New Spinal Injury Therapy
Rebecca Somach
Spinal Injuries
The spinal cord is the main network of nerves that transmits signals between the brain and other parts of the body. It’s encased and protected by the spinal column. Smaller nerve fibers branch out from the spinal cord to the body.
When the back is injured, the damaged vertebrae can pinch the spinal cord, causing bruising or swelling of the delicate spinal nerves. In some cases, the spinal cord or nerves are torn. The injury disrupts the transmission of signals between the brain and the area of the spinal cord at and below the point of injury. Message transmission above the level of injury remains intact.
Generally, the higher up in the spinal cord the level of injury, the greater the effect on the body’s ability to move and feel. Injury in the area of the lower back can lead to paraplegia, a loss of feeling and/or control over the lower parts of the body, such as feet, legs, stomach, and chest. Injury between the top of the spinal cord and shoulder can result in tetraplegia (previously called quadriplegia). This type of injury can cause a loss of feeling/movement in the head, neck, shoulders, arms, and upper chest.
According to the Spinal Cord Injury Information Network, up to 230,000 Americans are living with a spinal cord injury. About 11,000 new cases occur every year. Roughly 56 percent of patients are between 16 and 30, with an average age of 32 at the time of the incident. More than 80 percent of those with spinal cord injuries are males. Automobile accidents are the most common cause of injury – accounting for roughly 38 percent of cases. Other common causes include acts of violence, falls, and sports/recreational activities.
Training to Walk
Some patients with spinal cord injury have an incomplete injury. These patients still retain some ability to walk, but don’t have muscle strength to hold up the body. With the use of a walker, brace, or other type of supportive device, patients can relearn how to walk to some degree. However, the walking stance is very unnatural - being slow, awkward and tiring.
Researchers have learned that sometimes, even after a spinal injury, the nerve pathway below the point of injury to the lower body remains intact. Thus, signals can still be transmitted within that small section of the spinal cord. Investigators theorize patients may be able to use this section of spinal nerves to relearn how to walk more naturally.
In locomotor therapy, the patient’s legs and hips are positioned into natural walking movements while he/she is on a treadmill. Hopefully, the area of the spinal cord below the injury detects the sensory information and eventually learns to generate the pattern of signals that enable walking. The treadmill allows researchers to control the pace of walking, which can be increased as the patient progresses.
Currently, investigators are looking into locomotor therapy for patients with incomplete spinal cord injury who maintain some ability to walk. Not everyone responds to the therapy, so doctors are trying to understand who may benefit the most or how the process can be adapted to help more patients. Researchers are also comparing the effectiveness of treadmill training against similar therapy using a bicycle. Eventually, the studies may lead to the development of new methods of rehabilitation for more patients with spinal cord injuries. The current studies are funded in part by the Christopher Reeves Paralysis Foundation.
Audience Inquiry
For general information about spinal cord injury:
Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, 500 Morris Ave., Springfield, NJ
07081, http://www.christopherreeve.org
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke,
http://www.ninds.nih.gov
National Spinal Cord Injury Association, 6701 Democracy Blvd., Suite 300-9,
Bethesda, MD 20817, http://www.spinalcord.org
Paralyzed Veterans of America, 801 Eighteenth St., NW, Washington, DC 20006,
http://www.pva.org
Spinal Cord Injury Information Network, http://www.spinalcord.uab.edu
Find this article at:
http://www.hoinews.com/news/features/4/223631.html
No Article available