News this week out of Poland has made headlines and could be the key to curing paralysis.
Darek Fidya, a 40-year-old man from Poland, was paralyzed from the chest down after a knife attack in 2010.
After 19 months of treatment at a Polish hospital, doctors claim that he has recovered some voluntary movement and some sensation in his legs.
With over 3 million people suffering from a spinal cord injury, this news has brought hope as the man continues to improve further.
This breakthrough was not accomplished overnight. It began with the work of Geoffrey Raisman from the Institute of Neurology at University College London. In 1969, Raisman discovered that damaged nerve cells could still form new connections.
Later on in 1985, he found that a particular type of nose cell, called an olfactory ensheathing cell (OEC), allows nerve fibers to regenerate into the brain.
Using other cells to form a “bridge” between the scar tissue at the injured site, they were then able to use OECs to encourage the growth of nerve cells through this gap. Raisman and his team took the findings to the lab and later published animal studies in which they transplanted OECs from the nose into injured spinal cords. The results found that the nose cells stimulated regrowth of nerve cells in rats.
These revolutionary studies drew much attention and interest from around the world.
This is when Pawel Tabakow from the Wroclaw Medical University in Poland began corresponding with Raisman and ultimately invited him to Poland.
In 2013, they safely transplanted nasal cells into the spinal cords of three paraplegic patients.
Darek Fidyka was one of the recipients of this treatment.
In the first operation, they removed one of his olfactory bulbs from high up in his nose and proceeded to grow the OECs in culture.
A few weeks later, they transplanted the nasal cells into his severed spinal cord. Nerve cells from his ankle were used to bridge the gap of scar tissue. After the surgeries, Fidyka went through 5 hours of rehabilitation every day.
The surgery was a success as he is now able to walk with the help of a walker. Doctors report he is also able to drive again.
Geoffrey Raisman says, “We believe that this procedure is the breakthrough which – as it is further developed – will result in a historic change in the currently hopeless outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury.”
Raisman also calls the result “more impressive than man walking on the moon.” In this instance, I cannot say he is wrong.
This revolutionary procedure and its aforementioned results can catapult us into the future of neuroscience that can reach beyond curing paralysis.
If researchers and doctors can regrow nerve cells in the spinal cord, then maybe they will be able to take these findings and apply them to the brain to cure things such as Alzheimer’s or traumatic brain injuries like concussions.
The impact of these studies cannot be understated, but further research will be needed to perfect the surgery and replicate it successfully for other patients.
Though the outlook is much more promising for those disabled by paralysis, more work is still needed to call it a “cure-all.”
Zach Heppner
Viewpoints Editor
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