Non-approved treatments are not typically covered by medical insurance. Gabe's family will be bearing the cost. They would greatly appreciate financial support of any kind.
--W. Dalton Dietrich, PhD.
Scientific Director, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Accounts of spinal cord injuries and their treatment date back to ancient times, even though there was little chance of recovery from such a devastating injury. The earliest is found in an Egyptian papyrus roll manuscript written in approximately 1700 B.C. that describes two spinal cord injuries involving fracture or dislocation of the neck vertebrae accompanied by paralysis.* The description of each was "an ailment not to be treated."
How Is Research Helping Spinal Cord Injury Patients?
Can an injured spinal cord be rebuilt? This is the question that drives basic research in the field of spinal cord injury. As investigators try to understand the underlying biological mechanisms that either inhibit or promote new growth in the spinal cord, they are making surprising discoveries, not just about how neurons and their axons grow in the CNS, but also about why they fail to regenerate after injury in the adult CNS. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in both the working and the damaged spinal cord could point the way to therapies that might prevent secondary damage, encourage axons to grow past injured areas, and reconnect vital neural circuits within the spinal cord and CNS.
The Future of Spinal Cord ResearchFueled by significant federal and private funding, the past decade of spinal cord injury research has produced a wealth of discoveries that are making the repair of injured spinal cords a reachable goal. This is good news for the 10,000 to 12,000 Americans every year who sustain these traumatic injuries.
Because spinal cord injuries happen predominantly to people under the age of 30, the human cost is high. Major improvements in emergency and acute care have improved survival rates but have also increased the numbers of individuals who have to cope with severe disabilities for the rest of their lives. The cost to society, in terms of health care costs, disability payments, and lost income, is disproportionately high compared to other medical conditions.
Considering
the biological complexity of spinal cord injury, discovering successful
ways to repair injuries and create rehabilitative strategies that
significantly reduce disabilities is not an easy task. Researchers,
many of them supported by the NINDS, are actively developing innovative
research strategies aimed at making the kinds of exciting new
discoveries that will translate into better clinical care and better
lives for all.
(Information from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
