All too many people throughout the Miami area are living with spinal injuries. These injuries are sustained in a variety of situations including accidents that are due to the negligence of others.
The impact these injuries have on the life of the person who is affected vary depending on the portion of the spine that is injured. At times individuals become paraplegics. In more devastating situations an injury can lead to quadriplegia. These are life changing conditions.
Because so many suffer from this debilitating type of injury there is virtually always research being done into ways in which the spinal cord could be repaired. Currently an experimental drug is one of the things around which research is being conducted. Called LM11A-31, the drug was given to mice suffering from spinal injuries. Administering the drug appears to prevent nerve cells called oligodendrocytes from dying after a spinal injury.
Administering the drug over a period of time could ultimately continue to allow the brain and body to communicate via motor impulses. This in turn, could lead to a restoration in walking. Some of the mice in the experiment were ultimately able to walk again.
While the outcome with the mice is certainly encouraging, whether the drug could in fact make it possible for injured humans to walk again, remains to be seen. Those who are suffering from this type of injury are likely hopeful that it will. In addition to the inability to participate in daily activities, living with the injury can be expensive as well. In situations where the injury is due to negligent actions of others it is possible that some of the money needed to cover such expenses could be secured via a personal injury lawsuit.
Source: Voice of America, “Experimental Drug Helps Mice With Spinal Cord Injuries,” Jessica Berman, Jan. 12,2013
- Spinal injuries can lead to unimaginable expenses. Our firm provides counsel in personal injury matters including the one discussed in this post. If you would like to learn more about our practice, please visit our Miami spinal cord injuries page.