SEARCH FOR SCI CURE: axon regeneration, the Holy Grail of a cure?

We know that your head starts spinning as soon as another possible cure for spinal cord injury story is published but rest assured, this particular one comes from someone that we have a lot of confidence in. Meet Kate Willette, author and a contributor to New Mobility magazine. It also helps she has personal experience with SCI as her husband is a C6 Quadriplegic.

Her latest column dives into the promising results involving axon regeneration. Axons are the gossamer threads that project out from neuron cell bodies in the brain; they carry your thoughts (brain signals) through the cord to other neurons and eventually on to your muscles. Broken axons are why people stay paralyzed. The conventional wisdom is that once damaged, they can’t regenerate.

We’d also like to remind you that Kate’s book, “Don't Call It A Miracle: The Movement To Cure Spinal Cord Injury” is available free through the Reeve Foundation. This 238-page book explains the basic biology of the injured cord, what the basic approaches the scientists are taking to heal, mend or bypass the nervous system and what you, as a non-scientist, can do to speed things along. To get your copy, CLICK HERE.