Can Spinal Cord Injuries be Cured?

One in 50 people in the U.S. lives with paralysis. That statistic comes from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The actor lost his ability to walk in 1995 when he fell off a horse, broke his first and second vertebrae, and became completely paralyzed from the neck down.

He always dreamed of a cure but died nine years later of complications before he could regain the ability to walk.

The Reeve Foundation now raises money to find a cure for spinal cord injuries (SCI) because the spinal cord, that is the central nervous system and brain, does not repair itself.

Unfortunately, spinal cord injuries are quite common and there are an estimated 17,500 new SCI every year in the U.S., according to the University of Alabama Birmingham National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (UAB-SCIMS).

SCI can be caused by trauma such as a car accident, fall, or diving accident. Disease can also cause a SCI including polio or spina bifida.  The cord does not have to be severed to result in a loss of function.

The average age of injury is now 43, according to UAB.

What is a Spinal Cord Injury?

The spinal cord is a thick bundle of nerves, surrounded by bones or vertebrae, that carry messages to the brain and body. The spinal cord travels from the base of the brain down and stops just above the waist.

A traumatic strike to the spinal cord can cause swelling and bleeding, nerve cell injury, inflammation, the release of free radicals and toxic substances, scarring, cell death, fracture, a dislocation, and crushed vertebrae.

Various portions of the spinal cord carry messages to your brain and nerve fibers so the location of the injury matters.

A neck injury generally results in quadriplegia. Cervical (C1-C8) trauma affects your ability to breathe, speak, and move the arms or neck.  A thoracic injury (T1-T2) in the upper and middle back, hurts your ability to breathe and stay balanced.  The lower back or lumbar (L1-L5), and sacral (S1 to S5) nerves affect movement of the hip, thighs, bladder, bowel, and sex organs.

Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries

UAB tracks spinal cord injuries through its National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center and finds the other causes of spinal cord injuries are:

• Auto, motorcycle or truck accidents – 39.3% – For Americans young than 65, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of an injury to the spinal cord. Motor vehicle crashes account for about half of the new spinal cord cases seen every year.
• Falls – 31.8% – Falls cause about 31% of spinal cord injuries and a fall after the age of 65 is a likely cause of a spinal cord injury.
• Violence – 13.5% – Gunshot wounds or knife wounds cause about 13 % of the spinal cord injuries seen following a violent encounter.
• Sports/ Recreation – 8.0% – Bicycle or sports injuries.  About two-thirds of sporting injuries come from a diving incident.

Injuries can occur in the workplace, as a pedestrian, or if you are involved in risky behavior, such as diving into a shallow pool or failing to wear protective headgear during sports.

Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

After an injury there is swelling to the spinal cord which may take weeks to go down. It may take 18 months to regain some functioning and there is a possibility, in rare cases, the individual will regain some functioning.

The regrowth of any cells may be blocked by scar tissue or by genes that stop the growth of new nerves.

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons reports there is currently no cure for a complete spinal cord injury and there is no way to reliably restore function once the cord is damaged, however an incomplete SCI may mean there is some ability to move or feel below the level of injury.

There is research underway for treatments that may promote nerve cell regeneration after a SCI.

• Neuro-Protective Agents – the search involves using chemicals that prevent further damage after injury and attempt to minimize long-term scar formation. The goal is to deliver the drug directly to the nerve cells to improve outcomes.
  
  
• Regeneration Centers to Encourage New Nerve Growth – Whether it is an electrical stimulation, or transplanted schwann cells, regeneration also tries to reverse any blockage that inhibits spinal nerve growth.
  
  
• Growth Factors – Peripheral nerve bridges and growth factor and fetal central nervous system tissue, stem cells and genetic induction to induce tissue growth.
  
  
• Stem Cells – Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota researchers are involved in clinical trials that take Mesenchymal stem cells from the fat in the belly of the injured patient, multiplied in the lab, then injected back into the patient’s lower back.  Those cells migrate to the highest area of inflammation at the injury site and help with the healing process.  The improvement is seen in motor and sensory functions in some patients, not all as the cells can augment healing.

The push now is for restorative therapy that helps restore your function in any way possible.