The Search for a Cure to Spinal Cord Injury

Around 50 years ago, spinal cord injury was considered a fatal condition. Studies and statistics show that most people then usually did not live longer than a few days to a few weeks after the spinal injury. Deaths, however, were not caused directly by the injury, but due to the complications arising from the spinal cord damage as well as infections or the dysfunction or non-function or critical body processes.

Today, with our present technological and medical advancements, most people survive spinal cord injuries and continue to live productive lives. This is due to the exhaustive and intensive research done by scientists during the past 50 years to find treatments and therapies for spinal cord injuries, utilizing the latest in both medical sciences and technology. With these latest developments and medical breakthroughs, spinal cord injury patients may now regain mobility, or even allow them to compete in sports, travel, work, as well as raise a family.

Examples of these breakthroughs include:

1. Wheelchairs

The latest wheelchairs that are available right can do so much more than the old, ordinary wheelchair. Aside from providing movement and comfort to the patients, these wheelchairs can help them climb stairs, or even travel through rough ground. Also, these wheelchairs have adjustable heights and with the push of a button, the seat is raised, allowing the patient to reach over high places without any assistance from another person.

2. Computer Gadgets

Robotics as well as devices powered by a computer can help these patients with their daily routines. These devices can be easily controlled by the patients themselves so they can perform everyday tasks - such as dialing phones, paying bills, making reservations, bathing, personal grooming, cleaning and cooking – with relative independence.

3. Electrical Stimulation Devices and Neural Prostheses

These are the most advanced as well as one of the most complex tools in helping patients with spinal cord injury move and function. Some of these are placed under the person’s skin to be connected to the central nervous system. Others are installed outside of the body. These neural prostheses use electrical stimulation in order to control the arms and legs allowing the person with spinal cord injury to do tasks like standing up, walking, or getting a grip. These devices are also termed as FES systems, or Functional Electrical Stimulation systems. Though there is still a lot of scientific research to be done on this, this has created quite a buzz since the late actor Christopher Reeve once used this technology to ride a bike.

As of now, research on treatments for spinal cord injury is still underway. It may take years or even decades to find a cure for this, but new technologies and innovations on the medical field advancing everyday are paving the way for faster healing and therapy. Even the promise of stem cell research gives a glitter of hope to spinal cord injury patients, as their nerve cells can be regenerated so that they can recover completely from the spinal cord injury.