Paralysis News and Research

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Paralysis is the loss of muscle function in part of your body. It happens when something goes wrong with the way messages pass between your brain and muscles. Paralysis can be complete or partial. It can occur on one or both sides of your body. It can also occur in just one area, or it can be widespread. Paralysis of the lower half of your body, including both legs, is called paraplegia. Paralysis of the arms and legs is quadriplegia.

Nerve transfer surgery restores arm movement in children with acute flaccid myelitis

An innovative and complex surgery involving nerve transfers is restoring hope and transforming lives torn apart by a mysterious and devastating illness. Acute flaccid myelitis, also known as AFM, strikes without warning, shows no mercy and frequently results in paralysis.

15 Jan 2019

MUSC researchers uncover a new cause for laryngeal symptoms

While a sudden coughing fit is a protective reflex to clear the airway, chronic cough can be caused by multiple factors that must be investigated to determine treatment. Cough is just one of several laryngeal symptoms including hoarseness and dysphoric breathing that can become debilitating.

4 Jan 2019

Scavenging molecule offers long-lasting protection against toxic nerve agents in rodents

For the first time, scientists have created a scavenging molecule that provides long-lasting preventative protection against toxic nerve agents in rodents.

3 Jan 2019

New wireless and battery-free implant to control targeted neuron groups

University of Arizona biomedical engineering professor Philipp Gutruf is first author on the paper Fully implantable, optoelectronic systems for battery-free, multimodal operation in neuroscience research, published in Nature Electronics.

3 Jan 2019

Study examines relationship between growth restriction and risk of childhood mortality

Almost all children live to see their eighteenth birthday despite a severe growth restriction, as long as they have survived their first month during infancy. This is indicated in a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, which is published in the journal PLOS Medicine.

18 Dec 2018

Green leafy vegetables may reduce risk of developing liver steatosis

A larger portion of green leafy vegetables in the diet may reduce the risk of developing liver steatosis, or fatty liver. In a study published in PNAS researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show how a larger intake of inorganic nitrate, which occurs naturally in many types of vegetable, reduces accumulation of fat in the liver.

17 Dec 2018

Mass spectrometry throws light on old case of intentional heavy metal poisoning

In 1994, Chinese university student Zhu Ling began experiencing stomach pain, hair loss and partial paralysis.

14 Dec 2018

New method helps better understand pathological development of ALS

The neurodegenerative disease ALS causes motor neuron death and paralysis. However, long before the cells die, they lose contact with the muscles as their axons atrophy.

12 Dec 2018

Spinal cord injury disrupts the body's internal clock, study shows

Although paralysis is the most noticeable result of a spinal cord injury, a new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin suggests such injuries could throw off the internal clock of the entire body's daily activities, from hormones to sleep-wake schedules.

6 Dec 2018

Scientists restore breathing, forelimb function in animal models of chronic spinal cord injury

Millions of people worldwide are living with chronic spinal cord injuries, with 250,000 to 500,000 new cases each year--most from vehicle crashes or falls.

28 Nov 2018

Freeze dried polio vaccine could help save lives in remote locations

Polio vaccine can successfully prevent the deadly paralyzing illness caused in children. The vaccine presently available is in liquid form and is also thermolabile.

28 Nov 2018

Brain-computer interface enables people with tetraplegia to operate tablet devices

An investigational brain-computer interface can enable people with paralysis to directly operate an off-the-shelf tablet device by thinking about making cursor movements and clicks, according to a study published November 21, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Paul Nuyujukian, Jose Albites-Sanabria, and Jad Saab from the BrainGate consortium, USA, and colleagues.

23 Nov 2018

Researchers identify molecule to fight myotubular myopathy

Myotubular myopathy is a severe genetic disease that leads to muscle paralysis from birth and results in death before two years of age. Although no treatment currently exists, researchers from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, - working in collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, France, - have identified a molecule that not only greatly reduces the progression of the disease but also boosts life expectancy in animal models by a factor of seven.

19 Nov 2018

Researchers discover molecular basis for therapeutic actions of an African folk medicine

Researchers in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine have discovered the molecular basis for therapeutic actions of an African folk medicine used to treat a variety of illnesses and disorders including diabetes, pain, headaches, paralysis and epilepsy.

15 Nov 2018

Potential treatment for rare polio-like illness shows no signal of efficacy

Researchers have been searching for possible treatments for the polio-like illness causing paralysis in children, called acute flaccid myelitis.

9 Nov 2018

B cell accumulation triggers nervous system damage in MS

B cells are important in helping the immune system fight pathogens. However, in the case of the neurological autoimmune disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) they can damage nerve tissue.

8 Nov 2018

Cases of acute flaccid myelitis on the rise say federal health officials

The cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) – a polio like debilitating illness affecting children is still on the rise announced the health officials from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this Monday (5th November 2018).

5 Nov 2018

NIH increases funding through the BRAIN Initiative

The National Institutes of Health announces funding of more than 200 new awards, totaling over $220 million, through the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, an exciting trans-agency effort to arm researchers with revolutionary tools to fundamentally understand the neural circuits that underlie the healthy and diseased brain.

2 Nov 2018

Spinal electrical implants helps three paralyzed men walk

Three paralyzed men were able to take their first steps after their accidents due to the spinal implants from doctors in Switzerland.

2 Nov 2018

New resource outlines neurologic effects and treatment options for biologic, chemical attacks

The neurologic effects and treatment options for exposure to biologic and chemical agents are outlined in a newly published article by neurologists from the University of Colorado School of Medicine who collaborated on the article with military physicians.

26 Oct 2018