Types of Paralysis

Paraplegia:

It occurs usually due to injury or disease of spinal cord and occurs in both the legs. It is generally accompanied by loss of sensation below the level of injury and disturbed bladder function.

Diplegia:

This type of paralysis involves both sides of the body, and severly affects the legs than the arms. Cerebral diplegia is far more severe and dangerous when the damage is widespread. Continue Reading »

(CNN) — Latin pop diva Gloria Estefan and former Citadel linebacker Marc Buoniconti have each suffered paralyzing injuries.

Estefan escaped from a near-fatal bus accident in 1990 with a broken back. After months of grueling Physical Therapy and surgery, she returned to the stage and studio, winning Grammy Awards and numerous other accolades.

Buoniconti wasn’t so lucky. In 1985, he was hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, when his life was changed.

“I made a tackle,” Marc Buoniconti said, “and the next thing I know, I fell to the turf like a ton of bricks. … I knew right away that I was paralyzed.” Continue Reading »

ADRIAN — A Manitou Beach man told a jury Tuesday about regaining some control over the lower part of his body after a stem cell surgical procedure on his crushed spinal cord. The Lenawee County Circuit Court jury is to begin deciding today if the treatment was “reasonably necessary” for coverage under Michigan’s no- fault auto insurance law.

Home Owners Insurance Co. is being sued for refusing to reimburse $51,000 Kevin Krohn spent to have the procedure done in Portugal in 2005, claiming it does not meet the legal test for treatments it must pay for under the no-fault law.

Krohn said the improved quality of life leaves no doubt in his mind that the experimental treatment was necessary. Continue Reading »

State’s brain, spinal patients can’t find rehab

Spinal cord and brain injury patients routinely are staying at hospitals for weeks after they are ready to go to Rehabilitation, causing trauma centers to run at capacity and ring up costly bills.

Trauma patients are surviving in cases when they might not have a few years ago, and there is a shortage of rehabilitation centers to treat them. The situation ends up affecting everyone who needs medical care.

“If you are trying to get into Vanderbilt and the hospital is completely full, you may not be able to get in here,” said Dr. John A. Morris Jr., director of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s division of trauma and surgical critical care. “If we could solve this problem, we estimate that we would save 3,000 to 4,000 bed days each year.” Continue Reading »

LOCKPORT — While most children may be thinking about tricks or treats this month, many Emmet Belknap Middle School pupils have been preoccupied with the serious spinal cord injury suffered last month by Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett.

The school’s sixth-, seventh- and eighthgraders and their teachers are so concerned about the severity of the injury Everett suffered in the Bills season opener against the Denver Broncos that they’ve been raising money to donate for spinal cord research in Everett’s honor.

As of last Friday, Student Council President Dominique C. Wroten, a 12-year-old eighth-grader, said her school — students and teachers — had collected about $300 for the cause during the month of October. The campaign is slated to end today. Continue Reading »

I try to follow guidelines set up by the medical community so when I turned 40, it was time for a mammogram. The only time I saw a mammogram machine was on television during “October is Breast Awareness Month”—a barrage of commercials and news flashes from the health expert during the six o’clock news. The only problem with the examination I saw was that every woman was standing. Now the ability to stand has not been in my repertoire since I broke my neck and damaged my spinal cord over 20 years ago. So I assumed that having a mammogram would be out of the question.

Breast cancer is predominant on Long Island. A little park there is adorned with a pink ribbon and a sign that says, “One of Nine.” I’m not very good at math but statistically speaking I could actually be the one in nine. The question is how would I know?

I started to make some calls to the local hospitals asking if the mammogram machine was wheelchair accessible. Continue Reading »

Because of strict state law, Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research & Cures said Michigan is losing out on the economic and medical benefits of stem cell research.

Michigan is one of five states in the nation with the most restrictive laws, laws which are more strict than federal laws. Other states include North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana and Arkansas.

During a Petoskey Rotary Club meeting Wednesday, organization representative Marc Shaberman presented the benefits of stem cell research and how proposed legislation may allow more research in Michigan. Continue Reading »

DAYTON, Ohio, Oct. 24 (AScribe Newswire) — Wright State University announced today that is has received a prestigious Program Project Grant (PPG) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The $4.8 million grant is the first Program Project Grant Wright State University has received. Five university scientists will use the grant to further their research into why full recovery is not always achieved after damaged nerves have regenerated.

“These grants are extremely competitive, and this award underscores the high caliber of neuroscience research being conducted at Wright State,” said David R. Hopkins, president of Wright State. “In this research arena we are successfully competing at a national level. We are extremely proud that Wright State has taken a leadership role by bringing this Program Project Grant to the region.” Continue Reading »

Dr. Wise Young

PRINCETON BOROUGH — Neuroscientist Dr. Wise Young, who was part of the team that discovered and established high-dose methylprednisolone as the first effective therapy for spinal cord injuries, is scheduled to speak on “The Hope and Hype of Stem Cell Research” at Princeton Public Library on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Young, a nationally recognized leader in spinal cord injury research, will give the talk as part of the Christopher Reeve Lecture Series, which honors the late Princeton-raised “Superman” actor and activist.

Young is the founding director of the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and a professor at Rutgers University. Young was named “America’s Best” in the field of spinal cord injury research by Time magazine in 2001. Continue Reading »

American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 86(11):912-917, November 2007.
Raissi, Gholam Reza MD; Mokhtari, Aliakbar PT; Mansouri, Kourosh MD

Abstract: Raissi GR, Mokhtari A, Mansouri K: Reports from spinal cord injury patients: eight months after the 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2007;86:912-917.

Objective: The World Health Organization defines disaster as a sudden ecologic phenomenon of sufficient magnitude to require external assistance. On December 26, 2003, the Bam earthquake left more than 200 spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. Continue Reading »