Reversal of Paralysis :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Reversal of ParalysisThis semester we learned about the paralysis of Christopher Reeves. In thinking about his condition, I began to wonder where researchers stood in their attempt to recruit paralysis. Paralysis was often considered to be completely irreversible. However, I found that the live ten years have brought huge advances in our understanding of the offensive system and spinal stack daub. Even though paralysis repayable to spinal cord injury is still, for the most part, permanent, several drugs and techniques show promise in reversing the effects of paralysis.In order to understand the difficulties of curing paralysis, we mustiness first understand the nature of spinal cord injury. When the spinal cord is injured due to trauma, there is localized death of the facial expression carrells. (1) The initial injury is only the beginning of the cell death. In the hours, days, and weeks following the injury, case cells continue to die above and below the original wound. When the area begins to heal, target tissue, fluid-filled cysts, and cavities occupy an area where the tissue was once healthy. (4) Many of the boldness roles at the injured area actually separate into two pieces. The part of the fiber that is torn from the soma dies within 48-72 hours. This part does not regenerate, and cell/cell communication is lost below this point. Some cells, on the other hand, hang in intact, but lose their myelin. Myelin is a fatty substance that is requisite to conduct electrical signals along the axon. It increases the speed of transmission of signals from one nerve cell to the next, and without myelin the signal may deteriorate so frequently that it does not reach its target at all. (2) It is entirely possible that the nerve cells and their axons may survive the trauma, but paralysis still occurs because of the destruction of the myelin sheath. In order to reverse the effects of the spinal cord injury, the patient role must receive treatment depen ding on which damage category their injury falls into. Methylprednisolone is the first drug which was proven to control spinal cord damage in humans. It is unclear exactly how methylprednisolone works, but it is thought to repress inflammation, the release of glutamate, and the accumulation of free radicals. Immediately after trauma to the spinal cord, tiny hemorrhages appear due to blood vessel damage. The resultant projection inhibits the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to the nerve cells, causing them to die.