Although the treatment of pain using electricity was practiced nearly millennia before now, the spinal cord stimulator was not introduced until some time in the 1970s. By the start of the 21st century, it was used to relieve pain in people with refractory angina, peripheral vascular disease and terminal cancer. Nearly 20 years later, scientists have found that spinal cord stimulation brings movement to paraplegics.
This is exciting news for people who are paralyzed. The treatment may even restore movement to individuals years after the injury. Four people with paraplegia have been able to voluntarily move knees, ankles and toes while using the devices. The effect was enhanced when combined with physical rehabilitation.
It was approximately 5,000 years ago that doctors in Egypt used torpedo fish, whose electrical properties are similar to those in the electric eel, to alleviate pain in their patients. In 47 AD, emperor Claudius of Rome, acting on the advise of his physician, applied the fish to areas of his body where he experienced pain. People suffering from gout were advised to stand on a wet beach atop a live torpedo fish .
Despite the successful application of electricity for the alleviation of pain for dozens of centuries, it was 1965 before scientists got their first glimmer of understanding as to how the treatment worked. That was the year when two scientists specializing in pain, Patrick Wall and David Melzack, proposed the gate control theory of pain.
Studies into the application of electrical stimulation in patients with paraplegia, which began in 2009, proved more fruitful than the scientists who were involved in them with a pleasant surprise. Two of the four patients, who had total paralysis in both sensory and motor nerves, experienced restored voluntary mobility. The researchers had always assumed that at least some sensory function had to be preserved for the treatment to be successful.
These latest experiments received financial support from the National Institutes of Health and from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The Reeve foundation was established to provided patient advocacy and funding for research into paralysis. Christopher Reeve was an actor who was famous for appearing in a series of Superman films. He suffered a horseback riding accident which left him completely paralyzed in 1995. In 2004, he died of a heart attack. Dana, his wife, died in 2006 from lung cancer.
The NIH is a consortium of 27 institutes and centers for research into cancer, aging, child health and alcoholism, among other conditions. It is located in Maryland.
This is exciting news for people who are paralyzed. The treatment may even restore movement to individuals years after the injury. Four people with paraplegia have been able to voluntarily move knees, ankles and toes while using the devices. The effect was enhanced when combined with physical rehabilitation.
It was approximately 5,000 years ago that doctors in Egypt used torpedo fish, whose electrical properties are similar to those in the electric eel, to alleviate pain in their patients. In 47 AD, emperor Claudius of Rome, acting on the advise of his physician, applied the fish to areas of his body where he experienced pain. People suffering from gout were advised to stand on a wet beach atop a live torpedo fish .
Despite the successful application of electricity for the alleviation of pain for dozens of centuries, it was 1965 before scientists got their first glimmer of understanding as to how the treatment worked. That was the year when two scientists specializing in pain, Patrick Wall and David Melzack, proposed the gate control theory of pain.
Studies into the application of electrical stimulation in patients with paraplegia, which began in 2009, proved more fruitful than the scientists who were involved in them with a pleasant surprise. Two of the four patients, who had total paralysis in both sensory and motor nerves, experienced restored voluntary mobility. The researchers had always assumed that at least some sensory function had to be preserved for the treatment to be successful.
These latest experiments received financial support from the National Institutes of Health and from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The Reeve foundation was established to provided patient advocacy and funding for research into paralysis. Christopher Reeve was an actor who was famous for appearing in a series of Superman films. He suffered a horseback riding accident which left him completely paralyzed in 1995. In 2004, he died of a heart attack. Dana, his wife, died in 2006 from lung cancer.
The NIH is a consortium of 27 institutes and centers for research into cancer, aging, child health and alcoholism, among other conditions. It is located in Maryland.
About the Author:
Neil P. Hines is passionate about providing intelligent, unbiased and highly relevant medical information for people dealing with a wide range of pain conditions and related orthopedic needs, including back pain, knee pain, joint replacements, sports medicine, lumbar fusion and more. If you are interested in learning more about spinal cord stimulation doctors Philadelphia he recommends that you visit his friends at St. Mary Medical Center.
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