欢迎来到VOA在线收网 www.voa365.com
当前位置:VOA NEWS > VOA慢速英语 > 健康报道 >

New Treatment Helps Reduce Pain From Spinal Cord Injury

2017-01-24 09:52来源:未知

音频下载

Some people who can't use parts of their bodies because of a spinal cord injury can still suffer from terrible pain in those same areas. A new treatment is helping them. (AP Photo)

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

 

When Jon Forbes lost his ability to walk, he had to make serious changes but went on with his life.

 

Forbes suffered a spinal cord injury 14 years ago. It forced him use a wheelchair to move around. But Forbes says it was not his paralysis but something else that nearly broke his will to live.

 

It was electric shocks of pain in areas of his body that were paralyzed.

 

"It was horrible. Excruciating. And it never stopped. You wake up, it's there. All day, it's there. You go to bed, it's there."

 

His spinal cord injury is midway down his chest. So, Forbes can use his arms and hands. Yet he is unable to move his hips or legs.

 

Forbes does feel sharp pain like electric shocks below his spinal injury. He needed to stop the pain, but nothing seemed to work.

 

The World Health Organization reports that about 25 million people worldwide live with a spinal cord injury. The injuries are well-known for causing paralysis.

 

Another common side-effect is neuropathic pain, a sensation Forbes describes. Neuropathic pain creates feelings of electric shocks in parts of the body that no longer experience normal sensations.

 

In about 10 percent of cases, this feeling can be so severe and relentless, victims consider suicide.

 

Jon Forbes did.

 

"I had tried pretty much every kind of drug, tried exercise, tried … you name it. Anything and everything to try and get this pain to stop. And it wouldn’t. And I was working at an investment bank and decided this was it. Quit my job, and decided, this was going to be the end. I just couldn't take it."

 

But then, he learned about a doctor in Colorado who uses spinal operations to stop "suicidal pain."

 

Scott Falci is the chief neurosurgical adviser at Craig Hospital in the city of Denver. Craig Hospital specializes in helping spinal cord injury patients. Falci has helped hundreds of paralyzed patients who suffer from severe neuropathic pain.

 

For those with a spinal cord injury, traditional treatments for reducing pain often fail. This failure leads some doctors to suggest the pain is "in their head."

 

“Patients – when they ultimately come to me – I’m (kind of) their last resort. Unfortunately many of our patients are told that this could be a psychiatric problem.”

 

But, Falci says, it is mainly a spinal cord problem. And he fixes it with surgery.

 

Falci and his surgical team work for hours just to expose the spinal cord. Then he seeks out shiny, white "root entry zones." These zones, about the size of a button or coin, are filled with thousands of cells. This is where nerves bring sensations from the body and root into the spinal cord.

 

"These nerve cells that come from different parts of the body don't travel all the way up to the brain. They connect first with other nerve cells in the spinal cord and let them communicate signals to the brain."

 

Using a pin-sized instrument, Falci inspects the electric signals produced by these nerve cells. Mostly, he finds a calm electric signal. But when he finds a hyperactive nerve cell, he knows he has found the problem area.

 

"Hyperactive nerve cells – yeah, we call them ‘hot spots’ -- (are) firing with high energy when they shouldn't be firing."

 

Falci says hot spots can cause suicidal pain. There can be hundreds of them. He finds the hot spots below the injury and kills them with heat.

 

He says nerve signals coming in from the body can go around a spinal cord injury. He likens this to cars turning off a main road to avoid an accident. The drivers travel on local streets to go around the accident before returning to the highway.

 

When hyperactive nerve signals create a detour in the body, Falci says, they carry false pain signals. So, by killing hot spots below the injury, he removes more pain.

 

Falci says this can be life-changing.

 

It was for Jon Forbes, who had this surgery two years ago. Just two months after the operation, Forbes began a new job — as the deputy treasurer for Colorado.

 

"I'm a pretty happy person these days. I'm not 100% without pain, but I can live, and I want to live, which is … thank God for saving my life, Dr. Falci, you know."

Falci plans to publish new research that maps this "detouring" nervous system.

 

Words in This Story

 

 

paralyze v. to cause to be unable to move all or part of the body

 

paralysis n. complete or partial loss of function especially when involving the motion or sensation in a part of the body

 

excruciating adj. causing great pain or anguish

 

sensation n. awareness (as of heat or pain) due to stimulation of a sense organ

 

relentless adj. continuing without becoming weaker, less severe, etc.

 

all in one’s head expression in one's imagination : not real <The problem is all in his head.>

 

ultimately adv. at the end of a process, period of time, etc.

 

last resort expression something done only if nothing else works

 

psychiatry n. a branch of medicine that deals with mental or emotional disorders : – adj. psychiatric

 

hyperactive adj. extremely active or too active

 

detour n. the act of going or traveling to a place along a way that is different from the usual or planned way

 

(责任编辑:v365)
最新新闻
  1. 网传日月光Q4产能利用率降至70%
  2. 新型存储器已经开始增长,到20
  3. 市场人士透露:联发科在汽车芯片
  4. 【VOA在线闲聊】三星收购Arm会步英
  5. Nikola召回迄今为止生产的93辆Nik
  6. 蚂蚁数科两项区块链专利完成一对
  7. 蔚来申请注册“NIO CERTIFIED 蔚来官
  8. 获小米超千万投资 改装车公司工
  9. 法拉第未来首款电动汽车FF 91再次
  10. 消息称LG显示计划明年生产920万块
  11. 宝马面向欧洲市场推出最小的跨界
  12. 美国副总统哈里斯承诺就电动汽车
  13. 知情人士透露称马斯克和推特CE
  14. 因苹果缩减订单 台积电或修改明
  15. LG推出一项新技术,以开放局域网
  16. 小米13正式上线:骁龙8Gen2发布1
  17. 米家3 KG迷你洗衣机售价699元
  18. 苹果公司官方非常兴奋:印度将生
  19. 中国广电在全国31个省区开通广电
  20. 华为 Mate 50 Pro国外上市:售价远高
  21. 特斯拉柏林超级工厂回收工厂发生
  22. 华为 Mate 50原价4999
  23. iPhone 14销售比上一代下降了11%
  24. 2021至2025中国台湾将投350亿元新台
  25. 华为Mate50Pro预定5 G芯片,苹果公司
  26. 锐龙7000核显性能实测 单核及多核
  27. 索尼PS5最新更新:6 nm制程功率与
  28. 华为会议马上就要开始了!一种全
  29. 小米再次成为了冠军!该系列产品
  30. 还能吸收病毒?!戴森首个产品也
  31. 小米又推出了一款新产品,售价
  32. Imagination携手百度飞桨创建Model
  33. 奔驰要不要再加价?2024将发布
  34. TikTok在英国或被罚款2900万美元 被
  35. iPhone15PM改用 ULTRA:笔记本和 iPa
  36. 因库存不断提升存储芯片持续降价
  37. 预计小米Civi2将推出五款新产品
  38. 可靠商务桌面电脑推荐:联想M4
  39. 受飓风影响:NASA撤回阿尔忒弥斯
  40. 《三体》影迷们疯狂了!
  41. 4090设计实在是太离谱了!
  42. Meta试图Facebook和Instagram账户添加到
  43. 苹果公司在技术上遭受重大挫折,
  44. 我国成功发射遥感三十六号卫星,
  45. 骁龙8Gen2+120 W快速充电!小米13系
  46. 屏幕下手机价格大跌,灵动岛安卓
  47. 亚马逊宣布下月举办新会员促销活
  48. 酷睿i9-13900K预告片,5.8 GHz稳定!
  49. 美国流媒体巨头Netflix宣布在芬兰
  50. 外科手术机器人 商业化将加快世