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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)."

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  1. Re:Happy for the man, yet disappointed. by Ironhandx · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.