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March 05, 2014

Imagine a future with no sporting events for paralysed people. A future in which there is no need, as all the would-be competitors will have been cured.

This scenario, laughable just a few decades ago, is no longer far-fetched, experts say.

Bit by bit, important progress is being made in understanding and tackling aspects of paralysis.

Some believe the time is fast approaching when the major secondary problems from paralysis bowel, bladder and sexual dysfunction, breathing complications, declining muscle tone and bone density will be treatable, probably through a combination of drugs, cell replacement, physical training and electronic aids.

And tentative but encouraging signs are emerging in the quest for the ultimate goal: restoring function to paralysed limbs.

"This is an enormously complicated, but we do believe solvable, problem," said Susan Howley, vice-president of research at the New Jersey-based Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for paralysis.

"Some of the best and brightest people in neurosciences are thinking about spinal cord injury repair, and working on it. There is tremendous hope," she told AFP.

Paralysis, full or partial, happens when a message from the brain gets lost on its way to the muscles, blocked by illness or damage to the spinal highway.

As recently as 20 years ago, researchers focused not on a cure, but simply on making the person comfortable.

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