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Medical providers, learn about autonomic dysreflexia
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Two consecutive nights, he was taken by ambulance to hospitals, but no
one believed my son or myself when we told them what it was, and which
doctor they needed to call.
Autonomic dysreflexia is a condition
only seen in spinal cord injuries. Autonomic dysreflexia can develop
suddenly, and is to be treated as an emergency situation.
If not treated promptly and correctly, it may lead to seizures, stroke, and even death.
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Spine Surgery - Timing matters!
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According to the Spinal Cord Injury Information Network, about 40
people per 1 million in America will suffer a spinal cord injury. That
equates to about 11,000 new spinal cord injuries a year. Since 2000,
car accidents have been responsible for nearly 50 percent of spinal
cord injuries.
THE DAMAGE DONE: Doctors say two types of injuries happen when someone
suffers a spinal cord injury. First, there is damage done when the
injury happens -- this is the initial impact and includes bruising,
bleeding and disruption to the spinal cord and how it functions.
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Seattle radio show Patient Power to discuss " Advances in the Treatment of Spinal Cord Injuries"
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This is a upcoming radio program/webcast from Patient Power with Andrew Schorr. The guests, two medical experts in the field of spinal rehabilitation, will discuss "Advances in the Treatment of Spinal Injuries." It will air live on Sunday, October 7th at 10 a.m. Central time at www.kvi.com and on Seattle radio KVI AM 570. Listeners may e-mail questions ahead of time or call in to the live show. Replays and transcripts will also be available at www.patientpower.info following Sunday's broadcast.
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An Oregon Tale
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 RECENTLY MY OLDEST son, Noah, graduated from the University of
Oregon. He wore the traditional cap with tassel as a concession to his
mother’s prodding. The gown, however, bothered him. Where the
hell did the long flowing folds belong? He opted to go without,
etiquette be damned. In its place he put on a bright pink shirt with
striped tie. If you are going to draw attention, you may as well shine.
As he proceeded forward amidst the other students draped in black, he
glowed like an orchid in a bed of coal.
When the Provost announced Noah’s name, a loud cheer interrupted
the decorum. The ovation celebrated an effort occurring parallel to the
academics. These were his fans. They rightfully claimed a moment of
brazen discourteousness. My resistance to the incessant urge for a feel
good moment, about a story that has never felt very good, wavered. I
allowed myself a smile.
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Elderly spinal cord injuries increase 5-fold in 30 years
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The number of spinal cord injuries among senior citizens (age 70 and
above) has increased five times in the past 30 years, as compared with
younger spinal cord injury patients, researchers at Thomas Jefferson
University Hospital and Jefferson's Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center
of the Delaware Valley recently reported.
As the population
within the United States ages, it is estimated that 20 percent of its
population will be older than age 65 by the year 2040, and will likely
impact spine surgeons and spinal cord rehabilitation centers as these
patients become a larger proportion of the spinal cord injury (SCI)
population. The findings were just presented by Jefferson neurological
surgeons at a meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. of the Joint Section on
Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves of the American
Association of Neurological Surgeons.
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Fast and slow -- How the spinal cord controls the speed of movement
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Cornell research may have implications for treating human
Using a state-of-the-art technique to map neurons in the spinal cord
of a larval zebrafish, Cornell University scientists have found a
surprising pattern of activity that regulates the speed of the
fish’s movement. The research may have long-term implications for
treating injured human spinal cords and Parkinson’s disease,
where movements slow down and become erratic. The study, "A Topographic Map of Recruitment in Spinal Cord,"
published in the March 1 issue of the journal Nature, maps how neurons
in the bottom of the fish’s spinal cord become active during slow
movements, while cells further up the spinal cord activate as movements
speed up.
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70% of Spinal Cord Injuries in Children Result from Motor Vehicle Accidents; Most Not Wearing Seatbelts
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Of the nearly 1,500 spinal cord injuries (SCIs) sustained by
children age 18 and younger every year, approximately 70 percent are a
result of a motor vehicle accident. In 68 percent of those accidents,
the child is not wearing a seatbelt. These findings—from one of
the first studies to report on the incidence and causes of pediatric
SCI—are authored by physician-scientists at Morgan Stanley
Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University
Medical Center, and published in a recent issue of the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics. Other
common causes of pediatric SCI include accidental fall (14 percent),
firearm injury (9 percent) and sports injury (7 percent). Alcohol and
drugs were involved in 30 percent of all cases.
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Mayday May Publishes Via lulu.com Her Personal Letters Following a Sudden Spinal Cord Injury
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 Mayday May has published a collection of personal letters that
detail life after spinal cord injury aptly titled Letters for Coping,
Living, and Advocating after Spinal Cord Injury. The letters serve a
duel purpose: to provide information and to be a template for the
readers own advocacy efforts. Available for download at lulu.com.
Letters for Coping, Living, and Advocating After Spinal Cord Injury is
one person's account of life after SCI told through correspondence to
various people and agencies. The book provides templates for
correspondence meant for SCI persons and their caregivers. It is
intended as a quasi-memoir for those facing catastrophic injury or
illness on how to navigate their new world.
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Professor Works to Increase Understanding of Spinal Cord Injuries
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Every year about 11,000 people in the US suffer spinal cord injuries
that will likely change their lives forever. More than half of these
people are younger than 30. Today’s treatments can’t
completely help the 250,000-400,000 people currently living with spinal
cord injuries, but researchers at KU Medical Center’s Hoglund
Brain Imaging Center are working to change that.
“Spinal cord injury is a major health and socio-economic
problem,” said Mehmet Bilgen, PhD, director of high field
magnetic resonance imaging research at the Hoglund Brain Imaging
Center.
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Spinal patients body temp control difficult
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PATIENTS with spinal cord injuries may be
unable to maintain body temperature and heat while exercising in a cold
or a warm environment, Dutch doctors warn in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.
Patients
with spinal cord injuries have a disrupted nervous system "and may
experience difficulties in temperature control during exercise at
different ambient temperatures," said the researchers, from University
Medical Center Nijmegen, based on the results of a study in which they
had 11 spinal cord injury patients and 10 able-bodied controls perform
arm-cranking exercises for 45 minutes in warm and cold air temperatures.
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