Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injuries (SCI's) have the potential to cause both loss of sensation and movement below the site of injury in persons who experience them. People may experience a spinal cord injury through trauma to the spine; for example in either a fall, or through a car accident. People may experience a spinal cord injury which is either incomplete or complete. In persons who have experienced an incomplete spinal cord injury, they may have some level of both feeling and movement remaining below the site of their injury. Persons with SCI may experience additional issues involving control of urination and bowel movements. People who have spinal cord injuries involving their neck many times require specific devices in order to assist them with breathing.

Terms such as, 'Paraplegia,' 'Quadriplegia,' and, 'Tetraplegia,' are used to describe medical conditions associated with persons who have experienced a spinal cord injury. The terms are used in classifications based on the level and severity of the injury the person has sustained and the affect on their limbs. Persons who live with SCI often find a need to change aspects of both the home and work environments in order to accommodate their disability; however, they continue to live fulfilling and productive lives.

Common Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries

Car accidents are a common cause of SCI; however, there are a number of other causes. Sports injuries, falls, and gunshot wounds are other causes of SCI's. Diseases such as Spina Bifida, Polio, Transverse Myelitis, and Friedreich's Ataxia also cause spinal cord injuries. Damage done to the person's spinal cord may be referred to as a, 'Lesion.' The level of paralysis the person experiences may be referred to as Quadriplegia or Quadriplegia/Tetraplegia if the injury they have sustained is located in their neck area. If the injury they have sustained is in their Lumbar, Thoracic, or Sacral region, the injury may be referred to as Paraplegia.

There is the potential for a person to experience an injury to either their back or neck, resulting in a fracture, without paralysis. If the person's vertebrae have been fractured or dislocated, but their spinal cord has not been damaged, paralysis may not occur. Spinal cord injury is a defining issue in association with SCI.

Complete and Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

The terms, 'Complete,' and, 'Incomplete,' in reference to a spinal cord injury are associated with the type of lesion in the person's spine. A person who is completely paralyzed below the lesion has a, 'Complete,' SCI. A person who experiences partial paralysis below the lesion on their spine has an, 'Incomplete,' SCI. Persons with incomplete SCI might have some sensation below the lesion, yet have no movement. There are a number of types of incomplete spinal cord injuries. Every person with an incomplete spinal cord injury is unique in regards to their injury. Incomplete SCI's are known as Central Cord Syndrome, Anterior Cord Syndrome, Posterior Sequard Syndrome, or Posterior Cord Syndrome.

Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation

Persons with SCI face a path of rehabilitation that can be lengthy. The rehabilitation process often involves a Spinal Cord Injury Treatment Unit, Rehabilitation Center, or Spinal Injury Unit. Persons with paraplegia may stay in a hospital for up to five months after sustaining the injury. Persons with quadriplegia may stay in a hospital for up to six to eight months. Hospital stays often involve both rehabilitation and physiotherapy prior to discharge. The person’s stay in the hospital may involve teaching to help them adjust to life using a wheelchair and education regarding techniques to make everyday living easier.

There is currently no cure for the paralysis associated with spinal cord injuries. There are clinical trials being performed involving Olfactory Ensheathing Glial (OEG) cells and Embryonic Stem Cells that show promise.

Spinal Cord Injury Facts

In the United States there are about 700,000 persons with a disability involving their spinal cord. The disabilities these people have include Multiple Sclerosis, Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury, Poliomyelitis, Spina Bifida, Syningomelia, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Somewhere in America a person sustains a spinal cord injury every forty-one minutes. Approximately eleven-thousand people in America experience a spinal cord injury every year.

The first year after a person experiences a spinal cord injury is the most expensive medically, costing from $209,000 to $710,000. Each year afterward, medical expenses may range from $14,000 to $127,000 depending on the individual. For a person who has sustained a SCI at age twenty-five, lifetime medical costs may range from $624,000 to $2.8 million.

Approximately 400,000 people in America have Multiple Sclerosis (MS)). Ten-thousand people face a diagnosis of MS each year. MS is a progressive disease which attacks the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells in a person's nervous system, blocking transmission of motor signals to their limbs. For unknown reasons, MS affects two to three times as many women as it does men.

Approximately 70,000 people are living in America with Spina Bifida at this time. Spina Bifida is a neural tube birth defect that causes the spinal column in the person to close incompletely. There are various forms of Spina Bifida.

Approximately 5,600 people in America are diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS every year. The incidence of ALS is two-thirds as high as that of MS, and five-times as high as that of Huntington's disease. About 30,000 Americans have ALS, which affects persons of any race or ethnic background.

SCI Back Pain Sciatica

Further Information Regarding Spinal Cord Injury

Prevent Spinal Cord Damage with Vitamin B3 Precursor
Substances naturally produced by the human body may one day help prevent paralysis following a spinal cord injury, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College. A recent $2.5 million grant from the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Research Board will fund their research investigating this possibility.

Combinatorial Therapy Elicits Spinal Cord Regeneration
New research finds that adult neurons can still regenerate as long as 15 months after a spinal cord injury.

Spinal Cord Injury Immune Response May Worsen Damage
After spinal cord injury, certain immune cells collect in the spinal fluid and release high levels of antibodies. What, if anything, those antibodies do there is unknown.

New Drug Targets for Spinal Cord Injury?
Currently, there are no treatments that can reverse the damage to the spinal cord, there are only approaches to prevent further damage and to help people return to an active lifestyle.

Natural Hydrogel Helps Heal Spinal Cord Injuries
Injecting biomaterial gel into a spinal cord injury site provides significantly improved healing, indicating that a "practical path" to treatment may be found for spinal injury patients.

Food Dye may Help Treat Spinal Cord Injury
A common food additive that gives M&Ms and Gatorade their blue tint may offer promise for preventing the additional - and serious - secondary damage that immediately follows a traumatic injury to the spinal cord. In an article published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that the compound Brilliant Blue G (BBG) stops the cascade of molecular events that cause secondary damage to the spinal cord in the hours following a spinal cord injury...

Researchers Regenerate Axons Necessary for Voluntary Movement
For the first time, researchers have clearly shown regeneration of a critical type of nerve fiber that travels between the brain and the spinal cord and which is required for voluntary movement.

Shutting Down Inflammation Reverses Damage from Spinal Cord Injury
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) have been able to speed recovery and substantially reduce damage resulting from spinal cord injury in preclinical studies.