Accidents Cause Thousands of Spine Injuries Yearly
Some 12,000 new spinal cord injuries occur each year. Car accidents, sports injury and violence are the chief culprits. The effects of a spinal cord injury, such as full or partial paralysis below the injury site, can be devastating and lifelong. Sadly, these catastrophic injuries tend to happen to those under the age of 31.
But medical research in regenerating damaged nerve cells is growing – and showing promise. Various clinical trials are now underway. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is at the forefront of the research. The most promising approaches involve re-growing nerve cells by using stem cells, and by growing tissue in supportive structures such as hydrogels or nano-fibers.
The biggest obstacle in treating spinal cord injuries is the destruction of nerve cells -and the electricity-conducting myelin sheath that covers nerve cells — that transmit information from the brain through the spinal cord to the far reaches of the body. An injury to the cord can break that connection, resulting in loss of feeling, movement – even automatic functions such as breathing.
Regrowing Nerve Cells To Treat Injury
Therefore, much research focuses on how to re-grow those nerve cells. Cell therapy is one promising field of study with clinical trials already underway.
Using stem cells harvested from fetal fluid and from bone marrow are the two most studied approaches. The bone marrow approach offers the advantage of readily available cellular material because it is taken from the patient. The downside is that transfer from patient to patient is problematic due to risks of immune rejection. Harvesting stem cells from fetal tissue avoids the rejection issue but carries ethical concerns.
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, in another promising breakthrough, have developed a process for creating large quantities of oligodendrocytes. These cells in the nervous system produce myelin, the key insulating material encasing nerve cells that allows the conduction of electric impulses.
To learn more about regenerative medicine at The Spine Institute Northwest, visit https://www.fixmypain.ca/treatments/regenerative-therapies/ or call (888) 712-0318.