New Insights Into Spinal Cord Injuries

[Guest guest]

http://story.news./news?tmpl=story & u=/hsn/20040212/hl_hsn/newinsightsintospinalcordinjuries

New Insights Into Spinal Cord Injuries

Thu Feb 12, 5:04 PM ET

Add Health - HealthDay to My

THURSDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDayNews) -- People who suffer a spinal injury can still generate leg muscle activity independent of brain signals, says a study in the new issue of Spinal Cord.

In Health

Chronic HeartburnNeed Relief?

More from Health:

•

Check Your Symptoms

•

How Is It Diagnosed?

•

Available Treatments

Previous research showed locomotor training, such as exercising patients on treadmills, helps people who have suffered a spinal cord injury to learn to walk again. This new study says that adding weight to the limbs during therapy provides an important sensory cue to help those people regain the ability to walk.

The study of four patients with clinically complete spinal cord injury also found that moving one leg during therapy helps activate muscles in the opposite leg.

"Nobody has been able to show that in humans before. It appears there are left-to-right connections in the signal of the spinal cord, not just connections from the brain to the legs," research leader Dan Ferris, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan, says in a statement.

He conducted the study as part of his post-doctorate work at the University of California, Los Angeles Geffen School of Medicine.

The findings offer information for developing rehabilitation strategies. The study shows that therapists working with people who've suffered spinal cord injury should provide sensory information that simulates walking as closely as possible. Weight loading and movement in one leg can influence what happens in the other leg, the study says.

More information

Here's where you can learn more about spinal cord injuries.

Email Story

Post/Read Msgs

Print Story

Ratings: Would you recommend this story?

Not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 Highly

Next Story:

The Viagra Revolution (HealthDay)

More Health Stories

·

Bush Pushes Abstinence-Only Education (AP)

·

New Test Predicts Course of Leukemia (American Cancer Society)

·

UN warns bird flu still not under control as more outbreaks erupt (AFP)

·

Equation Predicts Marriage Success or Failure (Reuters)

·

Surgeons Differ on Iranian Twin Operation (AP)

ADVERTISEMENT

Online Graduate Degrees in Health

•

Online Graduate Degrees in Health

•

Browse All Health Programs

from Education

Copyright © 2004 HealthDay. All rights reserved.The information contained above is intended for general reference purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a medical exam. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment. Medical information changes rapidly and while and its content providers make efforts to update the content on the site, some information may be out of date. No health information on , including information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor.

Copyright © 2004 All rights reserved.Questions or CommentsPrivacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright Policy - Ad Feedback