There is a promising new treatment for spinal cord injury

May 24, 2018, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Spinal cord injuries are common in Canada. They can happen to anyone at any time. It’s estimated that in Canada 1500 individuals suffer a new spinal cord injury annually. This equates to more than four new injuries a day for Canadians. In Ontario there are over 30,000 people living with spinal injury. Spinal cord injury is a traumatic injury. It impacts the person affected, their family, their friends, their ability to earn a living, and their metal and physical health moving forward.

These injuries required intensive physical and psychosocial therapies and support systems for recovery. Hospital stays are long, and strong community supports need to be in place upon discharge in order to allow for independent living. The average recovery time from injury to independent life is 2-3 years post trauma. The cost of care over a person’s lifetime is an enormous burden for many, with government services only representing a portion of the costs. Out of pockets expenses can leave people struggling.

The common causes of spinal cord injury include:

• Falls
• Car accidents
• Diseases (polio)
• Industrial accidents
• Physical assaults
• Shootings
• Swimming accidents

For those with spinal cord injury there is a promising new treatment on the horizon. Until very recently it was thought that after injury the stress, inflammation and trauma caused permanent and irreversible neural damage. The belief was that the damage was also immediate. Now, however, a recent study in the Asian Journal of Neurosurgery suggests that the death of the neurons in the cord happens over the first few days post-trauma and involves a cascade of failures.

Researchers tested a new drug on spinal tissue from rats using a tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor etanercept (ETA) and found that early administration of ETA after spinal cord injury may significantly reduce the neural damage. The research is promising and will be proceeding.

You can read the whole journal article here.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.