Thursday, May 17th 2012

SUBSCRIBE: RSS Feed for Spinal Cord Injury Zone Email Updates Follow Spinal Cord Injury Zone on Twitter Spinal Cord Injury Zone on Facebook

Spinal Cord Injury Zone

The Spinal Cord Injury Zone

The Spinal Cord Injury Zone website is a not-for-profit Spinal Cord Injury educational Knowledge Base. The mission of The Spinal Cord Injury Zone is to archive important Spinal Cord Injury News and Spinal Cord Injury Information for education and awareness.

If you have any Spinal Cord Injury related questions, check out the SCI Answers area! Can't find something?? Try searching here!

Follow The Spinal Cord Injury Zone on Facebook and Twitter to get website updates!

Spinal Cord Injury News Articles

April 28th, 2012 - Work gets started on spinal cord injury ‘cure’

1853851

Researchers hope a “cure” for serious disabilities could soon be found in a Wollongong laboratory. A $4.7 million research program launched yesterday could produce a major breakthrough in the treatment of muscle, nerve or spinal cord damage, according to Professor Gordon Wallace. The program will be based at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science... Continue Reading »

April 28th, 2012 - Wheelchair athletes show off skills in quad rugby

Emily Shryock Quad Rugby

Emily Shryock got involved in the sport of quad rugby to stay active and competitive despite using a wheelchair. What she gained was independence. “When I started playing, there was a great feeling of comradery. I saw my teammates and thought: If they can do it, I can do it,” said Shryock, 25, an Indiana native who now lives in Austin, Texas. “It’s given me a lot more confidence. … Confidence... Continue Reading »

April 20th, 2012 - “Locomotor” Therapy May Bring Movement Back After Paralysis

Locomotor therapy is being used to strengthen the muscles of people with spinal cord injuries, experts hope that it has the potential to bring back muscle movement. April 22, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — A former hockey player paralyzed from a diving accident has the opportunity to run again once a week thanks to a revolutionary spinal cord injury treatment. Another woman was told she would never... Continue Reading »

April 20th, 2012 - Researchers create brain-computer interface that bypasses spinal cord injury paralysis

monkey-neuroprothesis-bci-fes-640x528

Scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago, with funding from the National Institutes of Health, have successfully bypassed the spinal cord and restored fine motor control to paralyzed limbs using a brain-computer interface. The researchers have created a neuroprosthesis that combines a brain-computer interface (BCI) that’s wired directly into 100 neurons in the motor cortex of the subject,... Continue Reading »

April 18th, 2012 - Recorded brain commands, sent to muscles, may circumvent paralysis

Tim Hemmes Katie Schaffer

For those whose arms as well as legs are paralyzed by spinal cord injury, no skill is more broadly useful to regain than the ability to grasp and move objects. Researchers reporting in Nature magazine this week say they have devised a new way to get a patient’s hand to grasp a greater range of objects:  by playing recorded brain commands directly to muscle. For the paralyzed, the technique could... Continue Reading »

Spinal Cord Injury Videos

Brain Electrodes Could Mean Movement For Spinal Injury Patients

Brain Electrodes Could Mean Movement For Spinal Injury Patients

Imagine moving an object by simply thinking about that action.

Life After Injury – Podcast ep.1 “Our Stories”

Life After Injury – Podcast ep.1 “Our Stories”

Brief introduction of our upcoming “Life After Injury” Podcast Series.

Christopher Hills – Video Editor With Cerebral Palsy

Christopher Hills – Video Editor With Cerebral Palsy

Meet Christopher Hills – a young boy who uses Apple products to edit videos.

The AbleGamers Foundation – Helping Disabled Gamers Everyday!

The AbleGamers Foundation – Helping Disabled Gamers Everyday!

AbleGamers – Video Game News, Reviews for the Disabled Gamer

Robotic support brings freedom to paraplegics – Tek RMD

Robotic support brings freedom to paraplegics – Tek RMD

Tek RMD is not an alternative to wheelchairs, it is a totally new concept, a new platform.

Spinal Cord Injury Answers

What is the potential of Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells to successfully treat human spinal cord injury?

Spinal cord injury is a serious and debilitating condition, affecting millions of people worldwide. Long... 

What wheel chair cushions are top rated for pressure sore relief?

For individuals who have suffered spinal cord injuries, pressure ulcers caused from wheelchair use are... 

Botox-to-treat-urinary-incontinence-in-spinal-cord-injury2

Botox to treat urinary incontinence in spinal cord injury?

Urinary incontinence in spinal cord injury patients could be treated using Botox, new evidence suggests. Allergen... 

Stem cells and dentistry: answers to seven questions

As dental physicians, it is our duty to keep up with the most current technology available in order to... 

Answers to the 6 most frequently asked spinal cord questions

The art of spinal manipulation has been around for thousands of years, dating back to medicine men called... 

Spinal Cord Injury Information

How to Build a Wheelchair Ramp

April 27th, 2012 - How to Build a Wheelchair Ramp

Ramps are typically built in order to improve home accessibility for people who can’t use stairs or need a gentler, less stressful way to enter or leave their home. A successful home accessibility project requires careful planning in order to be certain that the ramp meets the home occupant’s needs, complies with local building requirements, is safe and sturdy, and is safe for use in all... Continue Reading »

February 6th, 2012 - Spine Injury Information Many Doctors Don’t Explain

Many doctors still don’t adequately explain the anatomy of the spine, the reasons for a patient’s pain and the anticipated treatment plan. Here we will discuss the intricacies of spinal injuries and how a skilled personal injury attorney can help. FISHKILL, NY, February 06, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ — How is a spine injury patient supposed to make an informed decision about his/her... Continue Reading »

December 26th, 2011 - An in-depth look into spinal cord regeneration

Scientists develop new methods for the study of spinal cord injury After spinal cord injury nerve fibers do not regenerate by themselves; loss of neuronal function up to complete paralysis is the consequence. When investigating new potential therapies, scientists are often confronted with an experimental problem: Neurons are embedded deep into the tissue of the spinal cord and thus difficult to access... Continue Reading »

December 7th, 2011 - “The World I Come From”

An extraordinary college essay written by Gabrielle Schneiderman about the day of her brother’s car accident and the emotional response their family had to it. One could not avoid the playful yellow words hanging encouragingly on the classroom wall even if he or she tried. They reminded me that “today is a great day to learn something new.” Routinely, my math teacher wrote her notes in multiple... Continue Reading »

Dennis Liotta

December 6th, 2011 - Spinal Cord Injury Survivors: You May be Eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits

Spinal cord injuries change lives forever. If you or someone you love suffer from paralysis, quadriplegia, a spinal disorder, or another type of spinal cord injury, you know it can compromise your independence, as well as your financial health. Medical expenses from hospital stays, long-term rehabilitation, and devices to adapt to living at home add up quickly. If you can’t work due to your injury,... Continue Reading »

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

The term "Spinal Cord Injury" refers to any injury of the neural (pertaining to nerves) elements within the spine..

Spinal Cord Picture

SCI can occur from either trauma or disease to the vertebral column or the spinal cord itself. Most spinal cord injuries are the result of trauma to the vertebral column. These injuries can affect the spinal cord's ability to send and receive messages from the brain to the body systems that control sensory, motor, and autonomic function below the level of injury.

Depending on the location and severity of the injury, the body can be affected in a myriad of ways. Typically, the nerves above the injury site continue to function as they always have and the nerves below the site do not.

According to a study initiated by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, there are nearly 1 in 50 people living with paralysis -- approximately 6 million people. That's the same number of people as the combined populations of Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. And that number is nearly 40 percent higher than previous estimates showed.