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Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

economist.com

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Re: Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

#41

Post by viraptor »

adingus wrote: post #30
goldenkey wrote: post #29

Seems incredibly risky. If a muscle is stimulated too greatly without the user's ability to feel it cramp or be overworked, it could potentially rip, rupture, etc.. and now the user will be dealing with rhabdomyolysis without even having any notice.

I'm sure folks who get this treatment will be willing to stick to activities less strenuous than an intense CrossFit workout.

You don't need to do crossfit to get injured. You're perfectly capable of injury by pushing your arm back, walking too slowly, and many other "normal" movements if you ignore the pain or are not able to feel it. This is basically a one-way interface and as far as I understand it, the patients don't get the sensations coming back.

Re: Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

#42

Post by benjamir »

I think I would cry tears of joy even seeing _anyone_ even just wiggle their toes after not being able to do so. How awesome that most be to witness somebody who could only recently dream of doing this, really accomplish this?

_This_ is infinitely more amazing than any crypto shit, saving-the-world with Lomi blah blah blah and senseless techno-garbage some wanna-be-rich-thanks-to-an-exit-strategy creeps propagate on HN.

Re: Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

#43

Post by willmadden »

cjmcqueen wrote: post #37

As a partner of a person with a complete spinal cord injury, I appreciate these articles and the science being done by these researchers, it is truly a big and complex and worthwhile problem to solve. For most of us, I do want to suggest being careful when and how you mention research and articles like this to people in wheelchairs. Just be aware there are lots of different reasons why someone might be in a wheelchai…

I completely agree. My mother has been a partial quadriplegic since 1992 after a car accident. The moment there are broad cures for injury related paralysis, it'll be front page news.

The most impactful thing you can do to help people with paralysis is push for better wheelchair accessibility where you live. It's amazing how much of the world is not accessible to someone in a wheelchair.

Re: Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

#46

Post by verisimi »

cjmcqueen wrote: post #37

As a partner of a person with a complete spinal cord injury, I appreciate these articles and the science being done by these researchers, it is truly a big and complex and worthwhile problem to solve. For most of us, I do want to suggest being careful when and how you mention research and articles like this to people in wheelchairs. Just be aware there are lots of different reasons why someone might be in a wheelchai…

No post body was provided.

Re: Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

#48

Post by felipemnoa »

ineedasername wrote: post #36

Growing up, this sort of thing was speculated about with almost the same level of "sci fi" around it as things like stopping aging, instant cures for new diseases, and video phones. Just another example of how I slowly ended up living in the future without fully realizing it. Now, where's my flying car and Rosie, my robot maid?

Not a flying car but close enough: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/move-electric/meet-jetson...

Re: Spinal implants allow paralysed people to walk, swim and cycle again

#50

Post by londons_explore »

cjmcqueen wrote: post #37

As a partner of a person with a complete spinal cord injury, I appreciate these articles and the science being done by these researchers, it is truly a big and complex and worthwhile problem to solve. For most of us, I do want to suggest being careful when and how you mention research and articles like this to people in wheelchairs. Just be aware there are lots of different reasons why someone might be in a wheelchai…

I guess the real question is, will a dollar spent on wheelchair ramps in buildings across the USA give a greater quality of life improvement to the average american than a dollar spent on medical research that tries to repair spinal nerves?

Obviously "average american" is not intended to reflect the 'typical american', but instead be an average across all people, including those with mobility requirements.

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