Each year, thousands of Canadians suffer spinal cord injuries. Injuries like this can happen from accidents or conditions that damage the spinal cord, and the tragic result is sensory and motor disabilities that affect how a person moves and their control of muscles, as well as the function of their organs.
They’re robbed of movement and physical sensation. Rehab often helps them become more independent, but it can’t reverse the damage.
At
Krembil Brain Institute, we're trying to give them back what they’ve lost – through breakthroughs in stem cell research, tissue engineering, drug therapies and nanotechnology.
What does all this mean? There’s good potential for actual nerve cell regeneration using stem cell therapy.
Krembil Brain Institute was the main site for an international trial of a drug that was effective in bringing back some sensation and physical movement for 31% of patients.
Understanding Spinal Cord Injury
The spine provides support for the human body and allows us to stand erect. It consists of a series of bones called vertebrae, and there are 33 vertebrae in total.
The vertebrae are divided into sections called the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and coccygeal areas. Between each of these vertebrae are discs, and the centre of the vertebrae provides an opening through which the spinal cord travels.
Nerves exit from the spinal cord at each vertebral level. The spinal cord and spinal nerves carry messages between the brain and the rest of the body. Injury to the spinal cord can happen because of accidents or from many other different conditions (for example, tumours, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis), and that means sensory and motor disabilities.
How to Prepare
Your first appointment can take 2 hours or more. Follow-up appointments usually take 30 minutes to one hour.
Learn more about
what you can expect when you have a clinic appointment.
