|
Paraplegic
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural (brain) elements of the spinal canal. The area of the spinal canal that is affected in paraplegia is either the thoracic, lumbar, or sacral regions. If four limbs are affected by paralysis, tetraplegia or quadriplegia is the correct term. If only one limb is affected, the correct term is monoplegia. Spastic paraplegia is a form of paraplegia defined by spasticity of the affected muscles, rather than flaccid paralysis. The American Spinal Injury Association classifies spinal cord injury severity in the following manner. ASIA A is the complete loss of sensory function and motor skills below the injury. ASIA B is having some sensory function below the injury, but no motor function. In ASIA C, there is some motor function below the le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darek Fidyka
Dariusz "Darek" Fidyka (born ) is a Polish firefighter and recovering paraplegic who became the first person in history to verifiably recover sensory and motor function after the complete severing of his spinal cord. Having been paralysed from the chest down in a knife attack in 2010, Fidyka regained the ability to walk in 2014 after receiving a pioneering regenerative treatment from a British-advised Polish surgical team. Biography Pioneering spinal surgery In 2012, Fidyka began receiving treatment from a collaborative team of Polish surgeons and researchers, in collaboration with British scientists based at UCL's Institute of Neurology, who used a pioneering technique, based on research by Geoffrey Raisman, to repair the damage to his spinal nerves. Prior to this, Fidyka had had no feeling in his lower body and remained unable to walk, despite undergoing an intensive rehabilitatory physiotherapy program. The treatment consisted of intensive pre-operative and post-opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spinal Cord Injury Research
Spinal cord injury research seeks new ways to cure or treat spinal cord injury in order to lessen the debilitating effects of the injury in the short or long term. There is no cure for SCI, and current treatments are mostly focused on spinal cord injury rehabilitation and management of the secondary effects of the condition. Two major areas of research include neuroprotection, ways to prevent damage to cells caused by biological processes that take place in the body after the injury, and neuroregeneration, regrowing or replacing damaged neural circuits. Pathophysiology Secondary injury takes place minutes to weeks after the initial insult and includes a number of cascading processes that further harm tissues already damaged by the primary injury. It results in formation of a glial scar, which impedes axonal growth. Animal models Animals used as SCI model organisms in research include mice, rats, cats, dogs, pigs, and non-human primates; the latter are close to humans but rai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexuality After Spinal Cord Injury
Although spinal cord injury (SCI) often causes sexual dysfunction, many people with SCI are able to have satisfying sex lives. Physical limitations acquired from SCI affect sexual function and sexuality in broader areas, which in turn has important effects on quality of life. Damage to the spinal cord impairs its ability to transmit messages between the brain and parts of the body below the level of the lesion. This results in lost or reduced sensation and muscle motion, and affects orgasm, erection, ejaculation, and vaginal lubrication. More indirect causes of sexual dysfunction include pain, weakness, and side effects of medications. Psycho-social causes include depression and altered self-image. Many people with SCI have satisfying sex lives, and many experience sexual arousal and orgasm. People with SCI may employ a variety of adaptations to help carry on their sex lives healthily, by focusing on different areas of the body and types of sexual acts. Neural plasticity ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olfactory Ensheathing Cells
Olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), also known as olfactory ensheathing glia or olfactory ensheathing glial cells, are a type of macroglia ( radial glia) found in the nervous system. They are also known as olfactory Schwann cells, because they ensheath the non- myelinated axons of olfactory neurons in a similar way to which Schwann cells ensheath non-myelinated peripheral neurons. They also share the property of assisting axonal regeneration. OECs are capable of phagocytosing axonal debris in vivo, and in vitro they phagocytose bacteria. Olfactory glia that express the antimicrobial enzyme lysozyme (LYZ) are thought to play an important role in immunoprotection in the mucosa, where neurons are directly exposed to the external environment. OECs have been tested successfully in experimental axonal regeneration in adult rats with traumatic spinal cord damage, and clinical trials are currently being conducted to obtain more information on spinal cord injuries and other neurodege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flaccid Paralysis
Flaccid paralysis is a neurological condition characterized by weakness or paralysis and reduced muscle tone without other obvious cause (e.g., trauma). This abnormal condition may be caused by disease or by trauma affecting the nerves associated with the involved muscles. For example, if the somatic nerves to a skeletal muscle are severed, then the muscle will exhibit flaccid paralysis. When muscles enter this state, they become limp and cannot contract. This condition can become fatal if it affects the respiratory muscles, posing the threat of suffocation. It also occurs in spinal shock stage in complete transection of spinal cord occurred in injuries like gunshots injuries.Saladin, Kenneth S. Anatomy & Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function. McGraw-Hill. 6th Edition. 2012. Causes Polio and other viruses The term ''acute flaccid paralysis'' (AFP) is often used to describe an instance with a sudden onset, as might be found with polio. AFP is the most common sign of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Body Silent
''The Body Silent'' is a personal narrative written by Robert Murphy, a professor at Columbia University. This piece is a narrative of personal struggle through a spinal condition, published in 1987 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc. He uses this narrative to tell his journey through a deteriorating spinal condition leading to paraplegia. He was diagnosed with a tumor extending from his second cervical vertebra to the eighth thoracic vertebra in 1972. Through his narrative he tells his medical history and how the diagnosis of old medicine (late 1920s) knew very little about neurology, and left undetected problems which created a new issue in his 50s. As an anthropology professor at Columbia University, he applies his field to his medical journey. "This book was conceived in the realization that my long illness with a disease of the spinal cord has been a kind of extended anthropological field trip, for through it I have sojourned in a social world no less strange to me at first than t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regeneration In Humans
Regeneration in humans is the regrowth of lost tissues or organs in response to injury. This is in contrast to wound healing, or partial regeneration, which involves closing up the injury site with some gradation of scar tissue. Some tissues such as skin, the vas deferens, and large organs including the liver can regrow quite readily, while others have been thought to have little or no capacity for regeneration following an injury. Numerous tissues and organs have been induced to regenerate. Bladders have been 3D-printed in the lab since 1999. Skin tissue can be regenerated ''in vivo'' or ''in vitro''. Other organs and body parts that have been procured to regenerate include: penis, fats, vagina, brain tissue, thymus, and a scaled down human heart. One goal of scientists is to induce full regeneration in more human organs. There are various techniques that can induce regeneration. By 2016, regeneration of tissue had been induced and operationalized by science. There are four mai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hemiplegia
Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia is, in its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medical conditions, including congenital causes, trauma, tumors, or stroke.Detailed article about hemiparesis at Disabled-World.com Signs and symptoms Depending on the type of hemiparesis diagnosed, different bodily functions can be affected. Some effects are expected (e.g., partial paralysis of a limb on the affected side). Other impairments, though, can at first seem completely non-related to the limb weakness but are, in fact, a direct result of the damage to the affected side of the brain. Loss of ...
|
Cauda Equina Syndrome
Cauda equina syndrome (CES) is a condition that occurs when the bundle of nerves below the end of the spinal cord known as the cauda equina is damaged. Signs and symptoms include low back pain, pain that radiates down the leg, numbness around the anus, and loss of bowel or bladder control. Onset may be rapid or gradual. The cause is usually a disc herniation in the lower region of the back. Other causes include spinal stenosis, cancer, trauma, epidural abscess, and epidural hematoma. The diagnosis is suspected based on symptoms and confirmed by medical imaging such as MRI or CT scan. CES is generally treated surgically via laminectomy. Sudden onset is regarded as a medical emergency requiring prompt surgical decompression, with delay causing permanent loss of function. Permanent bladder problems, sexual dysfunction or numbness may occur despite surgery. A poor outcome occurs in about 20% of people despite treatment. About 1 in 70,000 people is affected every year. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adapted Automobile
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the population during that process. Thirdly, it is a phenotypic trait or adaptive trait, with a functional role in each individual organism, that is maintained and has evolved through natural selection. Historically, adaptation has been described from the time of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Aristotle. In 18th and 19th century natural theology, adaptation was taken as evidence for the existence of a deity. Charles Darwin proposed instead that it was explained by natural selection. Adaptation is related to biological fitness, which governs the rate of evolution as measured by change in allele frequencies. Often, two or more species co-adapt and co-evolve as they develop adaptations that interlock with those of the oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Regeneration In Humans")
