9 Out Of 10 Patients Walk Again In Some Form With Device, Therapy

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9 Out Of 10 Patients Walk Again In Some Form With Device, Therapy

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97409.php

On average, it happens every hour of every day - someone suffers a

spinal cord injury** that can leave them paralyzed for life. An

innovative device from the Reeve Foundation is helping

some patients get out of their wheelchairs and back on their feet.

Wolfe has lived in this wheelchair for more than two years -

ever since a robber's bullet hit his spine and paralyzed his legs.

Now he spends every day trying to get out of it. Thanks to a new

device, he's doing it. Through the Dana and Reeve

Foundation, is undergoing therapy at Ohio State University

Medical Center. Here, a specialized device supports 's weight,

while therapists move his legs for him on a treadmill. In a matter of

months, has gone from a wheelchair to a walker. By continuing

to use this machine, 's confident someday he'll get out of his

wheelchair for good.

" I could never really get much out of this left leg. Now, my left leg

is firing. It steps with the right one now, " says Wolfe.

That's because the walking machine uses what's called loco-motor

training. Researcher Michele Basso says even if patients do very

little of the work at first, putting them through a walking motion

can spark a kind of memory in their muscles.

" If you provide the right kind of sensory information into the spinal

cord, it will recognize it and say 'Oh, I remember what that is,

that's walking!' and it starts to organize itself and produce

walking, " says Basso.

In fact, in clinical trials on certain types of spinal cord

injuries,* the device has helped 9 out of 10 patients walk in some

form - and that may just be part of their success.

" We expect to see better core strength, better balance, better cardio

respiratory function, fewer and less voluntary muscle movements, "

says Basso.

The device is being used on patients with " incomplete " spinal cord

injuries. That means they still have at l east some feeling below the

waist.

The and Dana Reeve Foundation Center at Ohio State

University Medical Center is one of only seven sites in the country

using this device. To see the device in action click on

http://www.mediasourcetv.com/rp/.

*Device is used on patients with " incomplete " spinal cord injuries-

those with at least some feelings below the waist.

**About Spinal Cord Injury,The National Spinal Cord Injury

Association