
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 8, 1995                   TAG: 9508080047
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SPINAL INJURY PROGNOSIS IMPROVED

Scientists say the results of new research with animals suggest that damage from wounds to the spinal cord may not be as irreversible and uncontrollable as previously believed.

It may be possible to reduce, or even reverse, some of the damage with quicker treatment, especially immediate therapy to disrupt a biochemical cascade of secondary injury that follows the initial wound, the researchers say.

They caution that it may take years before their findings can be applied to humans, but they believe that the research offers hope for breaking the chain of paralysis and disability that deprives thousands of people of mobility each year.

Dr. Rick B. Delamarter, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, said,``Increasing evidence indicates that there is a window of opportunity, probably several hours long, after a spinal cord injury where rapid treatment may reduce the extent of injury.''

In a report published last month in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Delamarter and his colleagues at UCLA said their work with dogs whose spinal cords had been compressed and injured indicated that there could be considerable neurological recovery when pressure on the cord was removed within an hour or so of suffering the trauma.

- The New York Times

by CNB