Roudy
Diamond Member
- Mar 16, 2012
- 59,555
- 17,844
Warms my heart. "Wind in my legs": 
NBC News - Breaking News & Top Stories - Latest World, US & Local News
Four men paralyzed after bad spinal cord injuries can all move their legs again, thanks to an electrical stimulator.
Astonished researchers say theyd hoped for some result, but nothing like what they got. They think the stimulator is retraining the mens nerves to work with the brain again, despite the terrible damage.
This is wonderful news. Spinal cord injury need no longer be a lifelong sentence of paralysis, said Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, one of the National Institutes of Health. It is just downright marvelous.
We have uncovered a fundamentally new intervention strategy that can dramatically affect recovery of voluntary movement in individuals with complete paralysis even years after injury, the researchers, led by Dr. Susan Harkema of the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Louisville, write in their report, published in the journal Brain on Tuesday.
Because all four men tested have regained movement, including two who were completely paralyzed, its likely that many people who believed they were permanently paralyzed may be able to move again, says Reggie Edgerton, distinguished professor of integrative biology and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who developed the approach.
NBC News - Breaking News & Top Stories - Latest World, US & Local News
Four men paralyzed after bad spinal cord injuries can all move their legs again, thanks to an electrical stimulator.
Astonished researchers say theyd hoped for some result, but nothing like what they got. They think the stimulator is retraining the mens nerves to work with the brain again, despite the terrible damage.
This is wonderful news. Spinal cord injury need no longer be a lifelong sentence of paralysis, said Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, one of the National Institutes of Health. It is just downright marvelous.
We have uncovered a fundamentally new intervention strategy that can dramatically affect recovery of voluntary movement in individuals with complete paralysis even years after injury, the researchers, led by Dr. Susan Harkema of the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute and the University of Louisville, write in their report, published in the journal Brain on Tuesday.
Because all four men tested have regained movement, including two who were completely paralyzed, its likely that many people who believed they were permanently paralyzed may be able to move again, says Reggie Edgerton, distinguished professor of integrative biology and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, who developed the approach.
