Did you know that nineteen was the average age of a person who has had a spinal injury in Britain? There are also 40,000 people who suffer from back complaint. These complaints range from a loss of sensation to paralysis. Medicine and treatments for spinal injury has made huge advancements in the last one hundred years and it is no longer the death sentence that it once was but there is still a long way to go before we can really "fix" problems associated with the spine. Damages to the spinal cord and to the brain are the most difficult injuries that our medical people have encountered because our bodies do not seem to recover from these injuries very well.
A man in Britain has undergone a surgery that has implanted a pacemaker like device into his side and two electrodes have been placed on either side of the spine, there are also screws in place to stabilize his spine. This device will make it possible to send an electric current to stimulate nerve recognition and it is hoped that this device will stimulate nerve growth in his spinal cord. Wayne Boardman, 29, from Wakefield is the second person to trial this new surgery. Time will tell how successful the operation has been but Mr Boardman says he definitely has some sensations in his feet that were not there before and he is very hopeful. This operation was performed by David O'Brien, the consulting neurosurgeon from Hull Royal Infirmary. This surgery is a trial, to test the procedures and the device, five more procedures need to be undertaken before it can be used in the wider community and come out of the testing stage. This procedure could be the method that will transform the lives of those who have been in an accident and have damaged their spinal cords.
Another breakthrough has been achieved and the research is being carried out by the Institute of Neurology in London. In trial tests they have found that cells found in the nose can be transplanted to the spinal cord to help it re-grow, these tests have worked well on rats. Professor Geoffrey Raisman said "We can transplant them into injuries of the spinal cord, of the spinal root, and the nerve fibers grow back and function returns. Now, what we're trying to do is to transfer this to human application," he added. These findings look very promising too. Much of the funding has been raised and given to this research by the Welsh charity Trust PA. The parents of the player, Paul Andre Blundell, who was paralyzed after an accident during the game, set up the trust five years ago after his death to fund and raise money for spinal injury research and development.
Significant findings have also been discovered by Professor James Fawcett from the University of Cambridge. This team has identified an enzyme that is able to digest the molecules within scar tissue which will let some nerve fibers to regrow. The bacteria enzyme is called chondroitinase. "Chondroitinase offers us hope in two ways; firstly it allows some nerve fibers to regenerate and secondly it enables other nerves to take on the role of those fibers that cannot be repaired. Along with rehabilitation we are very hopeful that at last we may be able to offer paralyzed patients a treatment to improve their condition."
These findings are still in the development stage but with all these people working on this problem, a major breakthrough is bound to occur.
