Stem Cell Therapy:
Spinal Cord Injuries

The spinal cord is the brain’s connection to the rest of the body. Nerve cells run along the spinal cord, carrying messages from the body to the brain and back again. The body uses the spinal cord to tell the brain how it is feeling; the brain then relays messages back to the body about how to move and react. When the spinal cord incurs some sort of damage, the body’s ability to feel through its senses and the brain’s ability to send vital messages to the body are affected.

Spinal cord injury results in the loss of basic functions throughout the body. There are several ways that the spinal cord can experience damage. Car accidents, serious falls, and diseases of the spine such as polio or spinal bifida can result in serious paralysis.

Approximately 450,000 Americans each year suffer from some form of spinal cord injury, seriously affecting their lives and making it impossible to function normally. The most severe form of spinal cord injury—complete injury—leads to total loss of function below the location of the injury. Paralysis isn’t just external, although feeling and use of the limbs is most definitely one side effect. The paralysis is also internal, and all organs located below the location of the injury completely lose function. Clearly, this is a serious problem. If you’ve suffered a complete spinal cord injury, you’ll need machines and apparatus to run those failed organs for the rest of your life, hindering your ability to live your life the way that you wish.

How can stem cell therapies help spinal cord injuries?

Stem cell therapy is the most effective way to reverse the effects of spinal cord injuries. Stem cells have been successfully used to rebuild the insulation tissue for the neurons that run along the spinal cord. This means that stem cell therapy restores mobility, improving the loss of motor skills that occurs after a spinal cord injury. Stem cells have also been able to differentiate into oligodendrocyte cells, which then produce myelin. Myelin is connected to the ability of the spinal cord to carry messages throughout the central nervous system. This means that stem cell therapy has the ability to restore sensory and motor activity to the damaged area and all other areas affected by the spinal cord injury. Patients who have been treated for spinal cord injuries using stem cell therapy have been able to regain limb movement, organ function, and lost sensation.

What does this mean to you? If you or someone you love has suffered a serious spinal cord injury, there is hope and healing available. The body is made up of thousands of types of cells, each with a specific function. In this case, the nerve cells that run along the spinal cord serve to control bodily sensation and movement. When these cells are damaged, they can no longer perform their function. Stem cells are unspecified cells that have the amazing ability to turn into any specific type of cell in the body. If stem cells are taken from the patient’s own body, they can then be transplanted to the damaged area of the spinal cord and become nerve cells—healthy nerve cells. The damaged area is restored, and the spinal cord can once again send and receive the messages the body needs to function.

Stem cell therapies sound like new and unproven treatments, but this is only because we’re so unfamiliar with their use. In reality, these therapies have been around for years. Doctors have already used these therapies to restore health and facilitate healing in people who have experienced spinal cord injury. The answers are out there if you know where to look.

I have the answers that you’re seeking. I work with highly-trained doctors in various facilities who provide the stem cell therapy that will heal your spinal cord injury. Want to know more about how stem cell therapy will work for you? Contact me today so that we can begin moving in the direction of a cure.

For more information on how stem cell therapies can help you in recovering from a serious degenerative condition, please contact Jim Cohan & Associates at 818-504-2318.