Looking
Forward...
by Jeni
Mundl
Whether or not
you agree with Christopher Reeve's agenda, the disability community
did lose a great advocate in October. His ability to bring the concerns
of disabled individuals into the limelight was uncanny. He raised
millions of dollars for research in the hopes of finding a cure for
spinal cord injury and related conditions. His main agenda in recent
years was stem cell research; however, he did utilize and promote
a variety of assistive technologies.
For instance, voice-recognition was his mode of operating an IBM
computer. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a premier software program
with the ability to work with almost any Windows-based software program.
It allowed him to control both the keyboard and mouse through speaking
into a microphone. It does not work for every individual on a ventilator,
but it did prove to work for Reeve.
Technological Advancements
Special devices have been developed to help people with disabilities
improve and maintain their ability to function. These devices include
phrenic nerve pacemakers and Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES)
systems. Both of these devices were utilized by Reeve.
Phrenic Nerve Pacemakers
These devices are also
called breathing pacemakers. For some patients, these devices provide
freedom from a ventilator. The pacemakers are implanted beneath
the skin from the diaphragm up to the phrenic nerves. Electrical
impulses are sent to the phrenic nerve to stimulate the diaphragm
to start air going in and out of the lungs.
FES Systems
This system
in many ways looks like a bicycle into which the individual is
strapped. Electrical stimulation, along with the movement of
muscles, benefits people with paralysis like Reeve. He used his
system on a daily basis. FES systems are being improved and tested
to facilitate and regulate bladder and bowel function.
Advancements in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
There have been some very promising developments in the field for
the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury. One such
treatment is weight-assisted ambulation. The patient is placed on
a treadmill and, with the assistance of therapists, is re-trained
how to walk. The hope is that this will capitalize on the ability
of the spinal cord itself to learn motor patterns.
Some patients are candidates for tendon transfers that allow for
improvement in arm or leg function. Plus, there are implantable nerve
stimulators to improve muscle firing in the arm. In addition, devices
are available to allow patients to activate their paralyzed limbs
for aerobic exercise.
Can Paralysis be Cured?
No one knows for sure
where current developments and research will lead. As Christopher
Reeve stated in his biography, "When JKF
said in the early 60s he wanted to send someone to the moon that
decade, there were many doubters. So there is no telling what the
next few years can bring us."
