Word: spinal
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...drug bag. The first fully implantable drug pump could change all that. Here's how it works: morphine is stored in a pager-size pump just under the skin of the abdomen. A plastic catheter runs from the pump to the fluid-filled space outside the spinal cord, where pain signals travel. When the patient presses a handheld remote, the pump sends a measured dose of morphine directly to the spine. According to its maker, the SynchroMed works better and requires much smaller doses of medication than intravenous methods because it intercepts pain signals on their way to the brain...
...everyone. According to Dr. Yung Chen, director of the Stanford Interventional Spine Center in Stanford, Calif., the ideal candidate is someone who has only a mildly herniated disk--meaning the damaged disk hasn't completely ruptured or extruded too far outside its normal confines within the spinal column...
...shock absorbers. A soft, gel-like substance in their center, or nucleus, helps cushion the jolts caused by simple movements like running and jumping. But for various reasons, a disk's hard, protective shell can degenerate, allowing the spongy interior to bulge out and press on spinal nerves. This can cause excruciating pain that radiates down the leg in a condition commonly called sciatica...
Nucleoplasty, though less invasive than spinal surgery, is not entirely risk free. (Potential complications: bleeding, infection and nerve damage.) But without cutting, the risks are drastically reduced. And for those whose disks are only a little misaligned but still intact, nucleoplasty might finally provide some welcome relief...
...Wise Young, spinal-cord research. See highlights from a CNN special explaining how stem-cell research might help Christopher Reeve...