Questions - Anatomy en-us http://www.thescizone.com/questions N/A http://www.thescizone.com/questions webmaster@thescizone.com 20 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/12/1/What-is-the-spinal-cord/1.html This may seem to be silly question but, until people get spinal cord injury or know somebody who is, most pay little attention to their spinal cords. Most people don’t know the different parts of the spinal cord, what each part does, and how the spinal cord transmits sensory and motor information. Many think that the spinal cord conducts information like a telephone wire and the spinal cord can be fixed by reconnecting it. Some people mistakenly believe that the spinal cord is the vertebral column. While almost everybody knows that spinal cord injury causes paralysis, many are not aware that the spinal cord also controls the bladder and bowel, sexual function, blood pressure, skin blood flow, sweating, and temperature regulation. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/104/1/What-is-Spinal-Cord-Injury/1.html Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that results in a loss of function such as mobility or feeling. Frequent causes of damage are trauma (car accident, gunshot,  falls, etc.) or disease (polio, spina bifida, Friedreich's Ataxia, etc.). The spinal cord does not have to be severed in order for a loss of functioning to occur. In fact, in most people with SCI, the spinal cord is intact, but the damage to it results in loss of functioning. SCI is very different from back injuries such as ruptured disks, spinal stenosis or pinched nerves. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/105/1/What-is-the-spinal-cord-and-the-vertebra/1.html The spinal cord is about 18 inches long and extends from the base of the brain, down the middle of the back, to about the waist. The nerves that lie within the spinal cord are upper motor neurons (UMNs) and their function is to carry the messages back and forth from the brain to the spinal nerves along the spinal tract. The spinal nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to the other parts of the body are called lower motor neurons (LMNs). These spinal nerves exit and enter at each vertebral level and communicate with specific areas of the body. The sensory portions of the LMN carry messages about sensation from the skin and other body parts and organs to the brain. The motor portions of the LMN send messages from the brain to the various body parts to initiate actions such as muscle movement. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Sun, 20 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/102/1/Why-is-my-spinal-cord-important/1.html Your Spinal Cord is important because without a spinal cord your brain and your body couldn't communicate with each other. The spinal cord is the pathway for impulses from the body to the brain, and from the brain to the body. These impulses are different signals our brain sends and receives from our bodies. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/5/1/Whats-the-difference-between-a-paraplegic-and-a-quadriplegic/1.html Spinal cord injuries occur when there's damage to the spinal cord. The result is loss of function, usually in mobility or feeling. Severe injuries that occur in the neck usually result in quadriplegia, which is paralysis from about the shoulders down. Typically, the higher the neck injury, the more disability there is.More than 54 percent of spinal cord injuries are the result of vehicular collisions. More than a quarter result from other medical conditions and sports injuries. Falls make up about 18 percent. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/38/1/What-is-Paraplegia-and-Quadriplegia/1.html Paraplegia is the loss of sensation and movement in legs and in part or all of the trunk, usually resulting from an injury to the spinal cord below the neck. Quadriplegia (also Tetraplegia) is paralysis of all four limbs (from the neck down) resulting from injury to the neck. Fractures or compression of the vertebrae, which cause permanent damage to the spinal cord may lead to loss of sensation, movement, pain management, bladder and bowel control, as well as affecting sexual function. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/11/1/What-is-spinal-cord-injury/1.html Many misconceptions abound concerning spinal cord injury. For example, many people believe that the spinal cord below the injury site dies after injury. Others think that the injured spinal cord is like a cut telephone wire and can be fixed by reconnecting the cut ends. Some people think that the vertebral column is the spinal cord. Even doctors have misleading and inaccurate ideas about spinal cord injury. For example, many doctors casually use the word “transection” to refer to severely injured spinal cords. The word should only be applied to the extremely rare situation when the spinal cord has been cut and the cut ends are separated. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Sat, 24 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/8/1/How-does-spinal-cord-injury-affect-the-skin/1.html Spinal cord injury reduces or eliminates skin sensation in dermatomes below the injury site. Because people cannot feel or move, they may sit or lie for long times on certain parts of their body. Pressure impedes blood flow in the skin. Due to muscle atrophy, the normal tissue padding that cushions the butt may be reduced. Absence of sensation, loss of muscle padding, and long periods of pressure can lead to skin breakdown and development of pressure sores or decubiti. Decubiti are potentially life threatening but preventable. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Thu, 22 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/9/1/What-happens-to-the-bladder-bowel-and-sexual-function/1.html  The spinal cord also carries “autonomic” signals that control blood pressure, blood flow, breathing, sweating, bowel, bladder, sexual, and other autonomic functions. webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Tue, 20 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400 http://www.thescizone.com/questions/articles/10/1/How-is-spinal-cord-injury-classified/1.html In 1990, the American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) proposed a uniform classification system that had five categories, defined in Table 1. Motor level is defined as the level at which the key muscle innervated by the segment has at least 3/5 of its normal strength. Sensory level is defined as the lowest spinal cord level that still has normal pinprick and touch sensation. If there is a spinal cord level below which there is no voluntary motor or conscious sensory function, the person is called a “complete” spinal cord injury. Since the S5 is the lowest spinal cord level that innervates the anal sphincter, a person that has no voluntary anal sphincter control or sensation is defined as a “complete” spinal cord injury.  webmaster@thescizone.com (Super Admin) Sun, 18 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0400