Georgia Injury Law Blog
Spinal cord injuries are serious personal injuries that can be caused after an auto accident. New research finds that these injuries, in addition to permanently impacting a person’s day to day functioning, can significantly damage a person’s immunity, exposing the patient to the risk of life-threatening infections.
A spinal cord injury can result from any kind of blow or serous impact to the spine. The impact does not have to include a fracture. A spinal cord injury can also be caused by crushing injuries or dislocation of the spine. For example, when a person is thrown about the inside of a car during an auto accident, she or he could suffer serious personal injuries to the spine. A motorcycle rider who is thrown off a motorcycle could land on the ground with force that is significant enough to fracture his spine. In fact, spine injuries are common in motorcycle accidents when a person is separated from the motorcycle.
The risk of paralysis is very serious after a spinal cord injury. These consequences of a spinal injury can also have a long term impact on a person’s health. A new study finds that a spinal injury may also trigger immunodeficiency syndrome. This condition can result in a loss of immunity, thereby exposing the person to the risk of infections. The study was conducted by researchers on 111 patients who had suffered spinal cord injury. They found that soon after a spinal cord injury, the number of antibodies in the body dropped. There was also a deactivation of the monocytes or white blood cells that are responsible for staving off infections.
Spinal injury patients are also at risk of other risk factors that can lead to a drop in their immunity, including hospitalization, anesthesia and lying in bed for long periods of time. This new study, however, finds that the injury on its own can trigger deactivation of immunity providing cells, increasing the person’s risk of infections like sepsis. These are serious infections that can also result in death.
Spinal cord injury can result in loss of movement and mobility, loss of bowel and bladder control and even respiratory problems. It can affect your ability to breath normally, and cough or remove secretions from your lungs. A spinal cord injury does not simply affect your ability to work and provide for your family, but may also impact your ability to enjoy other aspects of your life. For example, it is quite common for a spinal cord injury to have an impact on a person’s sexual abilities or sexual performance.
Any claim that seeks to recover damages after a person has suffered a spinal cord injury must, therefore, include all of the damages that the person has suffered and is expected to suffer in the future in order to both protect him or her financially as well as compensate him for all his or her losses.
The Atlanta attorneys at Katz Personal Injury Lawyers are dedicated to the representation of persons injured in an accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in an accident, talk to a lawyer at our firm and determine if you have legal options to a claim for damages. You may be eligible for compensation that includes medical expenses, lost income and other types of damages. Talk to an attorney at our firm and discuss your case.