These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
Polio
Question: I have had poliomylitis for the past 47 yrs and am wondering why, if we are able to join nerve cells, can’t the spinal cord be corrected to enable movement of the lower limbs? Would it be because such an operation is too dangerous? Thanks for your time in sharing your professional opinion. Thanks.
Answer: Poliomyelitis is a virus that damages and destroys specific nerve cells in the spinal cord. Once these are damaged there is currently no method of cure or encouraging their return. Many patients proceed to “post-polio syndrome” which is a progression of the neurologic findings many years after the initial infection. This is a completely different problem than having ones spinal cord severed. There is active research on regeneration of spinal cord function after traumatic damage. This could produce progress in post-polio patients, but, is unlikely.
