New Therapy May Allow The Paralyzed To Walk
Written by Brett Brostrom, Posted on , in Section Family Matters
There are very few things that are more difficult and traumatizing to deal with than to become paralyzed. Often times, it is the consequence of an accident or injury, and it has stopped countless athletes from reaching their goals. It has made young, healthy adults completely dependent on other people to live. A new breakthrough in therapy has given paraplegics new hope.
The therapy basically takes an epidural stimulation device which stimulates the nerves in the legs, allowing them to actually think about moving their limbs, and they do. It’s incredible to see their reactions.
The study, from UCLA, reports that “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," said Susan Harkema, a University of Louisville professor and rehabilitation research director at KSCIRC, Frazier Rehab Institute, director of the Reeve Foundation's NeuroRecovery Network and primary author of The Lancet article. "The belief that no recovery is possible and complete paralysis is permanent has been challenged."
You can see that their movements are a little sporadic, but hopefully as time moves on, it will come to a point where the patients don’t need to be bound to wheelchairs any more.
