A spinal cord is a collection of 31 pairs of nerves that extends from the bottom of the brain down your back. These nerves control the limb movement and the function of various organs, including the heart, bowel, and bladder through the command sent by the brain.
A spinal cord injury can happen to anyone as a result of a fall or an accident. When the spinal cord is injured, there is complete or incomplete loss of body muscle functions below the level of the injury.
The severity of the spinal cord injury is categorized as either ‘complete’ or incomplete.
- Complete: The complete loss of all sensory feeling and the ability to control movement below the site of spinal cord injury is called a ‘complete injury’.
- Incomplete: If the person retains some motor or sensory function below the area of injury, the damage is called as ‘incomplete injury’.
Paralysis can also stem out from a complete spinal cord injury.
A person with spinal cord injury exhibits one or more of the following symptoms:
- Loss of movement due to muscle weakness
- Loss of bowel or bladder control
- Loss of sensation and the ability to sense touch and extremities of temperature (heat and cold)
- Recurring spasms
- Lack of sexual function or sexual sensitivity
- Intense pain or stinging sensations due to damage caused to the nerve fibers
- Acute breathing and coughing problem
- The onset of blood pressure issues
- Depression due to persistent pain
Stem Cells To Treat Spinal Cord Injuries And How They Are Collected
Stem cells are the ‘mother’ cells having the unique ability to undergo asymmetrical division to generate innumerable daughter cells. The patient’s own bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells are recognized by the body, and thus do not get rejected. They survive for a long, term without causing any side effects or tumors.
The bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells are a promising source for cellular repair of a spinal cord injury. They are self-renewing multipotent stem cells that have the capacity to differentiate into different tissues (bone, cartilage, muscle, etc.) and several mesenchymal lineages.
Neurosurgeons confirm that cell therapy with autologous stem cells showed a long-term survival in an injured spinal cord. The extraction of the mesenchymal stem cells from the bone marrow and its infusion into the body is accomplished in three easy steps.
- The marrow is extracted from the hip bone of the patient with the help of a bone marrow aspiration needle.
- The extracted marrow is subjected to the ‘density gradient centrifugation’ procedure to separate or filter the stem cells from the unwanted marrow tissue. The cells are mixed with CFS to enrich the viable quantity of the stem cells.
- The stem cells are re-infused into the spinal area, intrathecally, using a spinal needle.
After successful transplantation, doctors recommend various rehabilitation therapies to help individuals regain muscle strength. Quick recovery depends on extensive occupational therapy, physical therapy, and other rehabilitation therapies that help the person to cope with their disability.
