Why Spinal Injuries (Even Minor Ones) Are Next To Impossible To Completely Fix.
In: Biology
Many of the nerves in the spinal cord are very, very long. A single neuron way up by your head can have an axon that goes all the way to the bottom of your spinal cord (not all of them are this long, but you get the idea).
If it’s axon gets cut in two, the parts can’t reattach. The neuron would have to regrow the long axon, which would require a ton of energy and resources, and time.
The neurons in the spinal cord (and brain) can’t grow back once they’re damaged for a few reasons:
1) they’re not designed to grow back very well. Scientists have found ways to encourage them to grow better, but not nearly well enough to cure spinal cord injuries.
2) When the spinal cord (or brain) is injured, a type of scar forms. This scar *might* actively block axons from re-growing (but this is a point of debate).
3) even if the axon grows some, it no longer has a way to know *where* it should go, or who it should connect to. So there’s a low chance of the neuron being able to do its job anymore.
Fun fact: other animals, such as fish and some reptiles/amphibians, can recover from spinal cord injuries. Scientists are studying how they do it!
Latest Answers