Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have made an amazing discovery. The blue food dye known as Brilliant Blue G, or BBG, responsible for blue M&Ms and blue Gatorade alike, may actually reduce spinal injury damage.
This is a breath of new hope for those who have suffered spinal injuries. The effects of something so simple as blue food dye may one day provide those who are currently wheelchair-bound to stand again.
The University of Rochester Medical Center researchers and hospitals in Nassau and Suffolk injected the dye into rats suffering spinal cord injuries – and the rats regained the ability to walk, though they did so with a limp, according to reports. It also had another side-effect; it turned the rats blue, at least temporarily.
The research was built off previous research done by the same center six years ago, which showed that the spinal cord contained large amounts of a molecule known as P2X7, also known as “the death receptor”. The name comes from the molecule’s ability to adenosine-5-triphosphate (ATP) to attach itself to motor neurons and send the signals that kill nerves.
A lead researcher and professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center explained this to a reporter: “While we achieved great results when oxidized ATP was injected directly into the spinal cord, this method would not be practical for use with spinal cord-injured patients… We knew we needed to find another way to quickly deliver an agent that would stop ATP from killing healthy motor neurons. The compound we initially used, oxidized ATP, cannot be injected into the bloodstream because of its dangerous side effects.”
There is still no cure for spinal injuries including cervical injury, but this treatment offers the possibility for improvement which did not previously exist. Hospital emergency rooms have no standard method of dealing with spinal injuries. The treatment must be delivered as soon as the injury occurs in order for it to be effective, before more cells are killed.
Still, the treatment may offer the chance for spinal injury patients to take a few steps away from the wheelchair and allow bladder control, which can make all the difference in outlook for victims of these terrible injuries.
There may well be a cure one day, but until then, a New York Spinal Injury Lawyer is your best recourse if you or a loved one should suffer such trauma. A good physician will reduce the physical difficulties, but it takes a good New York Spinal Injury Lawyer to reduce the monetary difficulties that come with hospital bills and other costs for recovery