There is hope that spinal cord injuries can be treated

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We've written before about the devastating nature of spinal cord injuries. New Jersey residents have endured paralysis and other debilitating injuries as a result of car accidents, work-related injuries or slip and fall accidents. Up to this point, there was very little hope for such spinal cord injury victims that their injuries could ever be reversed. However, animal research has demonstrated the ability of some medical professionals to restore voluntary movement after the spinal cord has been severely damaged. What was significant concerning the new findings was that the animals were able to willingly move its legs. Though prior research could generate movement among the limbs, the subject was never before able to will the limbs to move. This is only a start, but at least it's a beginning that provides some hope that paralysis can be treated. Such research shows that we cannot simply give up on victims of paralyzing injuries with the excuse that any rehabilitative efforts would just be a waste of effort. Personal injury attorneys have so far sought compensation merely to provide victims of spinal cord injuries a lifetime of care. In the future, compensation may also be sought that could eventually be used in helping such victims walk again. Though paying for such therapy will likely be expensive, it would be far less costly than forcing such individuals to remain immobile while requiring 24 hours of care on a daily basis. These individuals with spinal cord injuries deserve the best of care. None of them chose to be in the position that they are in, and often their circumstances came about due to the negligence of others. Hopefully, additional breakthroughs concerning treatment will come in the very near future. Source: Scientific American, "With Willpower, and a Jolt of Electricity, Paralyzed Rats Learn to Walk Again," by Ferris Jabr, May 31, 2012