There are
an estimated 50,000,000 Americans with disorders of the spinal cord or brain.
Approximately 250,000 are spinal cord injured (SCI). On average 11,000 new
injuries are reported each year.
Paraplegia
(affecting the lower body) affects 55% of the SCI population; 44% are affected
by quadriplegia (both the arms and legs).
Initial
hospitalization (an average of 100 days), adaptive equipment and home
modification costs following injury average $140,000.
By
developing therapies for those who are already spinal cord injured, and
preventing new injuries, the United States would save as much as $400 Billion
on future direct and indirect SCI lifetime costs.
Before
World War II, an injury to the spinal cord was considered fatal. If you did not
die as a direct result of the injury, you probably would die within a few weeks
or months from complications, such as a kidney infection, respiratory problems,
or badly infected skin sores.
Because
the spinal cord carries vital information to the brain, the muscles and many
organs, the fact that SCI is now a survivable injury is a miracle itself.
However, this miracle leads to another pressing need - to find a way to
reverse, or at least diminish, the devastating physical effects of the injury.
The 1980's and 1990's have been an exciting time for people interested in
spinal cord injury repair and regeneration. Both in terms of treatment
techniques and general knowledge about nervous system function, the progress
that has occurred in recent years is encouraging(3).
Most of
the cells in the human body have the ability to repair themselves after an
injury. If you cut your finger, often you have a visible laceration for a few
days or weeks, followed by formation of a scar. In time, you may not be able to
tell that the cut had occurred This indicates that skin cells regenerate, just
like cells in the blood vessels, organs and many other tissues. Peripheral
nerves (nerve fibers outside the brain and spinal cord), such as those located
in your fingertips, also regenerate although this process is different from
that in the skin and other organs. For years, scientists have focused on the
big mystery: 'Why doesn't the central nervous system regenerate?" This
question is even more perplexing because we know that central nerves in lower
animal species CAN regenerate. There are no definite answers to this mystery
yet, but scientists are currently exploring the questions in their search for a
cure for this devastating condition.
To find
out more about spin al cord in juries due to either disease or mishap, check
out http://www.apacure.com, the website of the American ParalysisAssociation.
Also, the Harvard paralysis website has a wealth of information:
http://neurosurgery.mgh.harvard.edu/paral-r.htm.
This month's
"Phenom Revisited" column is titled The Fabulous Evan Evans. Evan has a spinal cord injury. When
you read Evan's update you will see the great strides he has made.