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Q: I am a patient from an accident, where I had a spinal cord injury in "C6, C7". I want to know wether there is any cure available for this anywhere in the world. The lower half of my body is paralyzed due to this since 1994. I have tried all types of excercises, but without any success.
A: Injury of the spinal cord which results in its transsection causes paralysis and loss of sensation below the level of the lession. In general, the management of a spinal cord injury consists in treating its its symptoms and immobilizing the patient when it first occurs, in order to prevent its getting any worse. Early treatment consists in giving steroids to improve recovery by reducing swelling. Realignment of the spinal cord by use of traction and other orthopedic procedures may also be necessary. On the other hand, the aftercare of patients with paralysis and disturbance of function of the bladder or rectum is similar to that of patients having these symptoms due to any other possible cause. Treatment of spinal cord injury is best carried out in centers specializing in providing rehabilitation for these patients. Physiotherapy and care of the skin, bladder, and bowel are important parts of the treatment.
Unfortunately, however, it has not been usually possible to actually restore function after a severe injury occurs. However, there is hope in the horizon and considerable research is presently being performed to try to be successful in this endeavor. In particular, scientists have found a way to cause spinal cord fibers into growing across an injury in rats. In fact, a recent study shows that there may be a chemical that triggers regrowth of spinal cord nerves. For years, scientists have known that severed nerve fibers in the adult spinal cord cannot regenerate. However, damaged peripheral nerves i.e.,those that link the spine to other parts of the body, can heal themselves after an injury. Researchers, thus, asked what the difference was between the two types of nerves. They suspected that when nerves in the spinal cord mature, they lose the ability to generate chemicals involved in switching on growth and repair. Because spinal and peripheral nerves are very similar, researchers hypothesized that if a peripheral nerve was injured at the same time as the spine, the chemicals released by the peripheral nerve might trigger regrowth in the spine's nerve fibers. Tests of this theory in rats proved it to be true. When the spinal cord and the sciatic nerve (the main sensory nerve to the leg) were injured at the same time in the rats, the spinal nerves partially repaired themselves. When a peripheral nerve was injured a week before the spinal cord, the nerve fibers grow completely through the injured area and into the upper spine. So, this shows that spinal cord regeneration can occur. The question is, however, can we control this process? How can we switch growth on and off? These results shows that nerve regrowth is dependent not only on environment, but also on the state of the cell. It suggests that for an individual with a spinal-cord injury there is now hope that recovery may one day be possible.
I hope that the discussion above encourages you. Even though we are not quite there yet, it is certainly strongly suggested from the above results that total recovery for spinal cord injury might be achievable in the not to distant future. In the meantime, proceed as you are doing with physiotherapy and symptomatic care.
Updated: 06/19/99
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