People with paralyzed legs may be able to recover movement functions once again.
This conclusion was drawn after discovering a non-invasive technique to stimulate the spinal cord. It is the first time in medical history that leg movements were re-learned by patients without undergoing surgery. This astonishing result was first published in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
Five completely paralyzed men could move their legs after researchers had placed electrodes on certain points of the skin and given them a drug for anxiety disorders. They used a unique pattern of electrical currents on the lower backs of the patients, close to the tailbone.
After this procedure, the men had undergone 45-minute training sessions every week for 18 weeks. They were able to regain voluntary control of their feet and perform rhythmic movements.
Reggie Edgerton, senior author of this experiment, shed some light as to how important this discovery is for future generations. Professor Edgerton mentioned how paralyzed people are robbed of hope very early being told of how they would never be able to regain control again.
They have been told that for generations and the same perception still exists to this very day. Edgerton emphasizes on how ridiculous these statements are because medicine evolved so much that we actually have the means to say that there is hope for paralyzed people to regain control of their own bodies.
Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at NIH, also commented on the significance of this discovery:
“These encouraging results provide continued evidence that spinal cord injury may no longer mean a life-long sentence of paralysis and support the need for more research. The potential to offer a life-changing therapy to patients without requiring surgery would be a major advance; it could greatly expand the number of individuals who might benefit from spinal stimulation. It’s a wonderful example of the power that comes from combining advances in basic biological research with technological innovation.”
While Professor Edgerton admits that we might be years away from having a final solution for patients with spinal cord injuries, he believes that their quality of life can definitely be improved until medicine reaches its destination. It is yet another important discovery that teaches us to look at spinal cord injuries from a different perspective and, in time, we will be able to make life better for those who suffer from it.
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