Slashdot Mirror
Implant Restores Paralyzed Man's Leg Movement
cylonlover writes "In a move that gives cautious hope to the millions of people suffering some form of paralysis, a team of researchers from UCLA, Caltech and the University of Louisville has given a man rendered paralyzed from the chest down after a hit-and-run accident in 2006 the ability to stand and take his first tentative steps in four years. The team used a stimulating electrode array implanted into the man's body to provide continual direct electrical stimulation to the lower part of the spinal cord that controls movement of the hips, knees, ankles and toes, to mimic the signals the brain usually sends to initiate movement (abstract)."
A small step for man, a great leap for mankind
This is supposed to be the future. It's cool that he can walk and all; but where is the iphone app that will allow me to control his legs over the internet?
Keep it up!
UCLA.
Caltech.
University of Louisiana.
Reports of American research demise seem to be premature (looking at the names the team looks multinational - hard to tell just by a name these days).
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
That's all well and good, except that chiropractic is widely considered to be bunk science. Unless you can cite a reference to a peer-reviewed study in a medical journal that shows chiropractic was used to restore movement to a paralyzed person, I will maintain this belief...
Just look at 'Dr.Bob,DC's other comments - he's either a troll or delusional.
We can have another "Artie Can Walk" dream sequence on Glee!
A relative of mine has a serious spinal injury and all I have to say to you is fuck you.
The man has a spinal cord injury. Not a spinal COLUMN injury(though he had that too). Spinal cords do not magically heal no matter what you do to them.
I really, really wish that you nutjobs would shut the hell up. Chiropractors are a godsend, for some injuries. I blew out a portion of my disc between t11 and t12 years ago. It caused all sorts of havoc and got to the point where I could very nearly no longer walk. Chiropractic care and a good regimen of exercises turned this around completely The pain had caused muscles to tense and throw all sorts of things out of place. The chiropractor got everything back into shape, and the back pain subsided a fair bit.
Heres the news flash: My disc is still blown. It did not magically heal, nor will it. An adjustment may allow space for some extra tissue to grow make the injury less painful, but thats about it.
The worst part is your post has a hint of truth, but heaped on it is a mountain of crackpot bullshit. You're giving chiropractors everywhere a bad name, and on behalf of those of us who know how much good they CAN do I say: Please, go crawl under a rock somewhere and stay there. Its people like you that mean a lot of folks can't get their chiropractic physiotherapy covered when it could potentially be the only thing that will get them real relief.
That's simply not fair to say without knowing more about his case. In effect, this is an application of the Jr.High School experiment of connecting a battery to a frog's leg to watch it jump. Without knowing the extent of the damage (which this article could never detail) it is literally irresponsible to assert a claim that alternative treatment could do a better job.
I believe chiropractic treatment has its purposes and ranks right up there with good nutrition and exercise as natural means of treating and maintaining health issues. But there are limits to the healing capacity of the body and there are many forms of "damage" where some are eligible for typical healing and others are simply not. (A cut nerve might heal, but a segment of nervous tissue might never be able to regrow the original connections over a distance where two healthy points are too far from one another.)
If you are a doctor, be more responsible before rendering opinions. You really must have all of the facts and first-hand knowledge of the case before making such assertions.
Numerous peer-reviewed studies and clinical trials have found plant-based diets have many benefits, including (but not limited to) reduced risk for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. I am vegan myself, and I advocate strongly for the diet. (Additionally, I personally consider it essential in achieving my peak athletic fitness.) If you wish to promote this diet and lifestyle, please do not make outlandish claims about what it can do. There is no evidence that plant-based diets will treat nervous or skeletal-muscle system damage. It is no silver bullet, and, if you recast veganism as such, you will hurt the cause.
Don't forget about sexual healing, Bob. He'd get better at least 25% faster if he had a cock driven up his anal column in conjunction with your program.
HOLY SHIT!
while the unchosen continue to be experimented upon. you call this 'weather'?
1) The spinal cord is not simply a transmission mechanism. Primarily, it controls the operation of the lower extremities.
2) The spinal cord requires a minimal 'data feed' to operate - over the spinal cord itself.
To me, this explains much about paralysis and ultimately, how to conquer it. It is interesting that I had never had the idea of the spinal cord being just the 'copper' linking your extremities to your brain corrected at any point in the past.
I also know someone with spina bifida who would benefit from this, if it were possible. Of course, reading about the physical condition and special circumstances of the research volunteer (having feeling below the injury) suggests that this may not be possible.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
CBS News has a video report on the subject. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/19/eveningnews/main20064470.shtml
How has this idiot not been modded into oblivion yet? Look at his other posts; he is rivaling Michael Kristopeit for most obnoxious slashdotter.
Nice way to work around the problem of the nerves not delivering the message -- add your own communication system. It would be nice if someone figures out how to repair broken links to the spinal cord, but using a different control and communication method is a good way to get some use of that otherwise unused muscle.
Perhaps the spinal cord can be trained to let me Geddan in real time!
I always cringe when reading a hostile post ended with "don't get me wrong...." It's like slapping somebody in the face and then saying "sorry, but you deserved it!"
Imagine if Hitler talked that way...
"The exposure of sick, weak, deformed children, in short their destruction, was more decent and in truth a thousand times more humane than the wretched insanity of our day which preserves the most pathological subject, and indeed at any price, and yet takes the life of a hundred thousand healthy children in consequence of birth control or through abortions, in order subsequently to breed a race of degenerates burdened with illnesses."
(Revised addendum:)
"Don't get me wrong, I feel for those inferior children, but their deaths truly benefit us all!"
Enough interstellar travel to transport marines, and the hero is wheelchair bound. *sigh*
This explains why House is coming to an end...
Yeah seriously.
I've had back problems from time to time, mostly related to overstressed muscles. I've gone to a chiropractor for it, had therapeutic massage and spinal adjustments done, and it did a lot of good. Eliminated for weeks at a time a problem that a normal doctor would have hit with muscle relaxants and painkillers.
BUT, the first thing my chiropractor did was take X-rays, both to see the underlying problem and guide the course of treatment. And he was willing to point out that NO serious spinal injury, nothing anywhere near the level of possibly damaging the spinal cord, should be hit with chiropractic treatment. For those, they have this thing called "Traction." He's actually sent patients over to a real hospital when they showed up asking for chiropractic treatment and his X-rays showed they had a major, serious, surgery-level problem.
The problem with chiropractic medicine is that for every good chiropractor out there who treats it as medicine, you have three lying assholes who go on and on about "energy" and "life flow" and all the other sort of new-agey bunk that gives the field a bad name.
Haha, sike! Go Science!
Or a paid shill.
Wow.
He reminds me of the Scientologists.
AWESOME! and I heard the California education system was in the toilet.
You mean it's not enough to shot zombies in the head?
Yeah, strange postings from this one we have. I just used up my last mod point earlier, damn.
This aint Daytona and you aint Dale Earnhardt. So stop trying to draft on Interstate 40.
Sure, he should just come to a shyster like you for some "spinal adjustment." Yeah, that will fix it.
On a personal note, I was at Oregon State when Rob Summers was hit, and it was/is completely tragic. I really hope for him that this is as promising as it sounds. He's definitely putting his nickname "Superman" to the test...
Chiropractors are voodoo doctor wannabes, just like acupuncturists. They're glorified knuckle crackers.
The entire basis of chiropracty is essentially that any sort of illness is a result of something wrong with the nerves, ultimately leading to somewhere in the spine. Tinker with the spine, problem solved!
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
The worst part is your post has a hint of truth, but heaped on it is a mountain of crackpot bullshit. You're giving chiropractors everywhere a bad name, and on behalf of those of us who know how much good they CAN do I say: Please, go crawl under a rock somewhere and stay there. Its people like you that mean a lot of folks can't get their chiropractic physiotherapy covered when it could potentially be the only thing that will get them real relief.
That "subluxations" cause every disease under the sun and can be cured by chiropractic is taught in most or all chiropractic schools, and is to them a normal belief.
There have been studies comparing registered massage therapists to chiropractors for back injury recovery. There was no appreciable difference in effect. Only one of them considers themselves a "doctor" though.
Read Dr. Becker's "The Body Electric" for more information on why this works.
Many bodily processes are regulated by DC electrical potentials, including growth and regeneration.
The body is mainly negatively charged in the middle section, and becomes more and more positive as it extends outward towards the limbs.
Dr. Becker was largely ignored for his amazing research which went against the establishment at the time.
Let's just hope this research in Californian universities isn't ignored as well.
Money still, unfortunately, rules the world.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
No, thats a common misconception from what is for some reason a very very vocal minority. Though, I can only speak for canadian chiropractics on that score really.
Chiropractors here tend to understand that a massage therapist does do a lot of what they do. What they do however is far more targeted and they are trained to help restore function. Going to a chiropractor here will probably hurt like fucking hell the first few times at the very least, and won't improve much after that, however it will help a lot with certain types of injuries.
Soft tissue damage injuries that have nearly all the way healed but need some coaxing or some bone realignment are the ones that they're particularly good with.
The problem is that sometimes, some symptoms can be caused by a nerve that is pinching somewhere that a bone is out of line or a massive tensing of muscles caused by pain that you can't even really feel anymore could be causing something. In my case I also had tension headaches, and as a result of the back adjustments and overall mobility improvement the muscles in the back of my neck relaxed more and they've now gone away for the most part. Some of the reason they are there is other stress, but some of it was the back pain and now there is improvement.
The stuff isn't nearly a cure-all, but sometimes it causes what could be seemingly random symptoms to improve. The main thing to remember is that stress can cause all sorts of wierd symptoms and chronic pain causes severe amounts of stress. Its as simple as that. Thats why occaisionally they get the miracle case where a whole boatload of things just sort of disappeared. However 99% of the time that doesn't happen.
I know about some stories, such as one where the parents fed their child soy milk and apple juice. That is obviously incompletely. So, please cite your sources. Tell us which story, tell us what the mother was eating, and then tell us what nutrients the nursing child could not get from the breast milk. Meanwhile, please prove that your isolated case applies generally to everyone eating plant-based diets.
Please explain how proper vegan diets are difficult.