Word: cordes
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...move his hands or legs. With all the power of his 266 lbs. of hurtling flesh, Byrd had unintentionally rammed his helmeted head into the chest of his 275-lb. teammate Scott Mersereau. The impact crumpled a vertebra in Byrd's neck, crushing part of the underlying spinal cord as well as plunging dagger-like slivers of bone into the soft, vital nerve tissue...
...Spinal-cord injuries, which afflict 10,000 Americans each year, were until recently considered untreatable. But researchers have begun to unlock the secrets of nerve growth and regeneration, and are even talking, in very cautious tones, about the possibility of reversing paralysis. "There are potent new tools that could change the extreme statements often made by physicians, such as 'You'll never walk again,' " says Dr. Richard Bunge, scientific director of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. "That may all change -- maybe not within this decade, but certainly within the next...
...first breakthrough occurred when neurologists realized that damage to the spinal cord continues to progress for about 48 hours after the initial accident. As the first nerve cells die, they release toxins that attack neighboring cells that have managed to survive. Some of these toxins are renegade oxygen molecules, called free radicals, that eat through cell membranes. The ensuing flood of biochemicals destroys even more nerve cells. The devastation spreads from the gray matter at the center of the cord to the white matter that surrounds it. Ironically, the body's response to injury only makes matters worse. The inflammation...
...drug, which was quickly administered to Byrd, has become a standard treatment for spinal-cord injuries in the U.S., and health authorities are studying proposals that would allow paramedics to inject the steroid at the scene of an accident. Just as important, says Bracken, methylprednisolone has erased the notion that these injuries are hopeless: "It's opened the door to many other studies that may lead to better recovery." Several groups are testing substances that provide the benefits of methylprednisolone without the side effects, which include depressing the immune system...
...small study completed last year, researchers from the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services gave the drug to 34 patients for four weeks after their injury. One year later, seven had improved markedly. The treatment apparently prevented further damage to the white matter in the cord and perhaps may have stimulated nerve repair...