As we have mentioned before on this blog, motor vehicle accidents can be very harmful. Sometimes, such accidents result in an individual suffering spinal cord injuries. A spinal cord injury can sometimes result in an individual suffering paralysis. Paralysis can have major impacts on a person’s life.
Recently, a study was conducted on rats that involved paralysis-causing spinal cord injuries. The study had fairly encouraging results.
The study was conducted by researchers from Switzerland and was recently published online in “Science,” a journal. In the study, researchers took 10 rats that had paralyzed hind legs due to having their spinal cord cut (but not completely severed) and had these rats undergo a training course. The training course reportedly involved having the rats work out, giving them certain drugs and giving electrical stimulation to their spine and brain.
According to the article on the New York Times’ website which reported on this study, all ten of these rats regained the ability to walk within six weeks of starting this training course. This is a fairly impressive result.
Given the study’s results, it appears that the training course that the researchers in this study developed could potentially help certain spinal cord injury victims. Reportedly, the researchers are currently in the process of trying to develop the systems necessary for them to be able to test the training course on humans. One wonders when such a test will be conducted and what effects the training course would have on humans with spinal cord injuries.
