|
Because
of legal restrictions, MOMSCIS cannot give specific medical
advice. The following information is not a substitute for the
personal care or advice of your physician. Please discuss any
concerns with your physician regarding your medical care. Physicians
in the Physical
Medicine & Rehabilitation Department at the University
of Missouri-Columbia are available to evaluate patient
records, and can set up a clinic visit for a medical evaluation.
The PM&R Department does extensive treatment of individuals
with spinal cord injuries using a wide variety of physical
therapies and state-of-the-art medications. Individuals with
spinal cord injuries can be examined and treated on an outpatient
or inpatient basis. For more information about the PM&R
services available or to schedule a clinic visit, telephone
the clinic at (573) 884-0033.
New
research to benefit individuals with SCI
By
Michael Acuff, M.D.
MOMSCIS Spinal Cord Injury Specialist
Q:
What research is being done in the field of spinal cord injury
cure that might be beneficial to me or other individuals with
spinal cord injury?
A:
There
have been many areas of advancement in the science of understanding
spinal cord injury as well as possible treatments for improving
nerve function after spinal cord injury over the last 10 years.
These treatments can be divided into several categories:
- Treatments
to minimize injury to nerves during spinal cord injury.
- Treatments
to prevent scar formation after spinal cord injury.
- Treatment
to enhance nerve regeneration or regrowth after spinal cord
injury.
- Treatment
to improve existing nerve function for individuals with incomplete
spinal cord injury.
- Research
looking into rehabilitation techniques - including equipment,
devices and therapeutic approaches - to improve functional
outcomes for individuals with spinal cord injury.
It
has been exciting because in all of these areas there have been
some advancements in treatments or approaches for improvement
for individuals with spinal cord injury. Most of these treatments
or approaches are at the animal study or very small clinical
human study phase of research.
There is one promising treatment that is close to federal Food
and Drug Administration approval after finishing up a multi-center
clinical trial that is being conducted the last part of this
year. This treatment involves a medication called 4-AP (or Aminopyridine).
The medication is most effective for individuals who have an
incomplete spinal cord injury with some feeling or movement
well below the level of their injury that extends into some
bowel or bladder function. This study hopes to involve more
than 100 subjects and be carried out by more than 30 sites in
United States and Canada. We will be participating in this clinical
trial in Missouri. To qualify for this trial, individuals must
have an incomplete spinal cord injury. They must have spasms
in their lower extremities with an injury above the T10 spinal
level and they must be in stable medical condition. I plan on
entering only five to eight individuals in our region into this
study to get the best possible results.We expect that patients
will experience improvement in spasms as well as other areas
of function, including bowel, bladder and sexual function.
With basic science research in spinal cord injury continuing,
there is progress that is being made and the chances of improving
quality of life as well as life expectancy after spinal cord
injury are great. An individual with spinal cord injury, in
order to benefit from advances in spinal cord injury research,
should be focused on maintaining the best possible medical and
physical health that they can and be in the best shape possible
to benefit from new treatment as therapies become available
when they have been shown to be effective.
|
