Georgia Injury Law Blog
New research focuses on the use of infrared light therapy to help reduce the impact of a spinal injury soon after it occurs.
Spinal cord personal injuries are some of the most devastating injuries, and often occur in auto accidents, motorcycle accidents and pedestrian and bicycle accidents. There is no complete cure for a spinal injury. However, millions of dollars are being invested in research into circumventing or limiting the impact of spinal cord personal injuries. Some of this research focuses on interventions that can limit damage during the early hours after the personal injury.
Recently, researchers using a grant by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health announced that they are in the process of testing an infrared tool that can help reduce the activity of mitochondria cells after an injury. According to the researchers, a lot of the long term impact of a spinal injury can be limited if interventions are made immediately or within a few hours after the injury. As soon as a spinal injury occurs, the mitochondria cells go into overdrive, creating large amounts of free radicals, and increasing cell damage in the area. According to the researchers, it is therefore important to limit the activity of the mitochondria soon after the spinal injury.