MetaFilter posts tagged with Paralysis

A Belgian man diagnosed as being in a coma for 23 years was actually conscious the whole time.

njbradburn — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:33:30 -0800

"I shall never forget the day when they discovered what was truly wrong with me – it was my second birth. Rom Houbens was simply paralysed and had no way to let doctors caring for him what he was suffering. Only the re-evaluation of his case at the University of Liege brought to light that Houben was only paralysed all these years. Hi-tech scans showed his brain was still functioning almost completely normally.

Lytico-Bodig, the mysterious killer of Guam

Joe in Australia — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:06:31 -0800

Can an obscure disease from Guam explain the explain the appearance of neurological disorders near Marscoma Lake in New Hampshire? The only people thought to contract Lytico-Bodig were Chamorros born before 1961 and related or married to particular familes living near the village of Umatac in Guam. It was theorised that it came from eating cycad seeds, but why were there no documented cases before the 1900s, and why are there no new cases on the island today? The popular author and neurologist Oliver Sacks visited the island and has continued to study the disease. He suggests that the cause is biomagnification of a toxin produced by cyanobacteria and concentrated twice - first by the cycads, and a second time in the flesh of the fruit bats. There are no new cases, he says, because the fruit bats have been nearly hunted to extinction.

The Future Gets Closer, Part II

StrikeTheViol — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:14:51 -0800

Practical gene therapy treatment emerges. Prosthetics that feel. Circumventing paralysis with brain implants.

Locked-In Syndrome

homunculus — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:17 -0800

The Unspeakable Odyssey of the Motionless Boy. "How much of our humanity are we prepared to cede to machines? This is a dilemma of the future, but it's not much of a concern for Erik Ramsey. Erik can't move. He can't blink his eyes. And he hasn't said a word since 1999. But now, thanks to an electrode that was surgically implanted in his brain and linked to a computer, his nine-year silence is about to end." [Via]

"It's like Mother Nature: It's going to find a way to express itself."

brundlefly — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:36:56 -0800

Philip Martin Chavez is paralyzed, so he creates art using DragonDictate and Paint.

Stem cells vs. spinal cord injury

homunculus — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 13:52:42 -0800

A team of Korean scientists have enabled a woman who has not been able to stand up for the last 19 years due to a spinal cord injury to walk on her own (103 MB .wmv), thanks to a transplant of stem cells from umbilical cord blood. [Via Future Hi.]

Sleep paralysis

baphomet — Sun, 28 Nov 2004 01:14:46 -0800

The terror of a trapped mind is difficult to describe. Have you ever awakened to complete immobility? If so, you probably suffer from sleep paralysis, a condition that afflicts 25% of the American population. Such episodes, which usually only last for a few minutes, can frequently be accompanied by bizarre hallucinations, and some believe the phenomenon is responsible for alien abduction, "Old Hag Syndrome", and the incubus myth. Although most believe the disorder is genetic, explinations vary. Are you an experiencer? Then you understand how frightening it can be. Luckily, you can fight it.
(This is my first FPP in 3 years of reading, so comments and criticisms are very much appreciated.)

Brandon's Arms

mr_crash_davis — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 17:30:14 -0800

When he was seven years old, Brandon Maxfield was accidentally shot in the face, becoming permanently paralyzed below the neck. [More inside]

oflinkey — Tue, 24 Sep 2002 16:35:09 -0800

Farkers requested that this be spread to all communities on the web. It is absolutely Snopes approved.

o2b — Tue, 10 Sep 2002 13:17:15 -0800

Christopher Reeve is gaining ground in his fight against paralysis. I was prepared for the article to be a typical "celebrity's struggle gets public attention" piece, until I read this:

"No one who has suffered an injury as severe as Chris', and failed to have any initial recovery, has regained the amount of motor and sensory function he has."

Hope is coming for many.