新西兰英语 120 Hope for paralysed people
Doctors from Otago University are planning an operation to help people who are paralysed 1. They plan to take nerve cells from the patient’s nose and put those cells into the patient’s spinal 2 cord. They hope that the new nerve cells will make the old nerves in the spinal cord grow again.
Some successful research using this method was first tried in Portugal. Now China, Italy and Japan are also using this method. New Zealand scientists have been trying this with animals but they now feel it is time to use it with people. Results from these other countries show that many patients have made some small improvements such as gaining some feeling in their lower body. This could help patients gain control of the bladder so that they know when to go to the toilet. For someone in a wheelchair, this makes a big difference to his or her life.
In New Zealand, we have around 70 new patients with spinal cord injuries every year. Most of these are the result of car accidents but a large number are sports injuries. The nerves in the spinal cord do not repair themselves so this is the reason to put in new nerve cells. Only 12 patients will be chosen for this treatment at first.
The doctors still have to get approval from the Ethics 3 Committee before they can start the treatment of patients. They also need to raise $2 million dollars. The Spinal Cord Society is trying to raise this money so that treatment can begin later this year.
- The accident left him paralysed from the waist down . 那场事故使他腰部以下都瘫痪了。
- The country was paralysed by a series of strikes. 一系列的罢工使那个国家陷于瘫痪之中。
- After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
- Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。