Any injury to the spinal cord is liable to have long-lasting effects, but the causes of such an incident vary greatly from case to case. In medical malpractice-related paralysis incidents, however, there are a few common patterns.
Here are a few of the most common causes of paralysis when medical malpractice is involved:. Having a new baby is actually one of the few times anyone will visit the hospital for anything positive. However, because doctors are forced to act swiftly throughout labor and delivery, mistakes can happen.
Standard medical practices can place the mother in jeopardy, but even infants can suffer if too much force is used during delivery. Your medical professionals are often the voice you rely on to guide you in the best way to solve any health problems that may arise.
So when they fail to properly diagnose your condition — or to do so in a timely fashion — it may result in permanent damage that is past the point of being treatable. As we research more and more about spinal cord injuries and other conditions that may lead to paralysis , it appears that moving quickly is a key element in rehabilitation and recovery.
When your doctor fails to serve this purpose, it very well may be a case of medical malpractice. Surgeries are typically among the most serious medical procedures a patient will endure. In the unfortunate event that this does happen, medical malpractice is almost certainly going to be cited as the cause. An infection results from bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites getting into the body.
In some cases the body's immune system can fight it on its own, and in others the aid of prescription medications is necessary. However, in the most extreme cases infections can cause other ailments — including paralysis. Paralysis from infections, although uncommon, is a very real threat.
What infections cause paralysis? Most bites from insects such as fleas, mosquitoes, bed bugs, and spiders, pose hardly any danger to human health. The venom or salivary fluid from these infectious insects usually just causes itchiness and swelling at the bite point on your skin for some time after it occurs. Sometimes, however, the bites of these insects cause paralysis, malaria, encephalitis, and West Nile Virus, among other serious health problems.
These bites can also cause life threatening and traumatic conditions if you are allergic to the insect itself or the organisms they introduce to your body upon biting your skin.
Mosquitoes have become infamous as disease carriers due to outbreaks of Zika Virus and other illnesses. The fact is that the Zika Virus has been linked to a variety of ailments including brain infections. The attack on the brain stem resulting from Zika can lead to paralysis. West Nile Virus is another infection attributed to mosquitoes that can also cause paralysis and death.
A spider bite can be life threatening, especially in the elderly and in infants, because their immune systems are not as strong. For example, the black widow spider, found throughout the United States, is one of the most dangerous spiders in the world. Besides potentially causing paralysis, the black widow's bite can cause stiffness and intense pain at the site of the bite along with abdominal pain, muscle spasms, fever, chills, and breathing or problems with swallowing.
In most cases, the bite of a tick isn't harmful, but in others it can lead to life-threatening problems like Lyme disease, tularaemia, ehrlichiosis, and paralysis of the legs. Odds are you have felt the intense sting of an ant bite at one point or another in your life. For the most part, these bites are harmless. However, in rare cases, the small fluid-filled bites of a fire ant bite can cause illness, allergic reactions, anaphylactic shock, vomiting, and, you guessed it — paralysis.
The sting of a scorpion causes sharp burning pain and numbness, but can also lead to infections, paralysis, and even death. Food infection, more commonly known as food poisoning, is a common, but usually mild, illness. Unfortunately, some cases of food infection lead to severe and deadly health problems. Contamination of food and water is the main cause of food infection.
The most common cause of acute paralysis in the United States is chicken contamination, according to NutritionFacts. Ingesting undercooked or improperly sanitized poultry can lead infections such as salmonella, which can cause a variety of negative effects including partial paralysis. Muscarine poisoning is caused by the ingestion of dozens of species of mushrooms and toadstools. Certain species of fish are poisonous by nature, like puffer fish. Some species of edible fish found in the Pacific and Caribbean Oceans also have ciguatera poison — similar to that of a puffer fish — produced by dinoflagellate, which is a tiny sea parasite.
This poison can cause paralysis since it attacks the nervous system of the person who eats it. Food poisoning can be caused by ingesting mussels, clams, scallops, and oysters because they can contain Saxitoxin — which is a potent neurotoxin. Ingestion of saxitoxin can result in a variety of severe illnesses.
It can even produce paralysis or weakness around the mouth within a few minutes of ingesting it, which can spread to the rest of the body gradually. The poisons in pesticides on produce can cause harm as well.
It is therefore critical to wash produce thoroughly prior to consumption. Some cases of food infections that have led to paralyzation can be attributed to the consumption of wild leaves, nuts, berries, flowers, botulism, under ripe tubers, arsenic or lead from fertilizers, cadmium from containers, lead from potteries, acids, and more. The best way to avoid insect-borne infections is to avoid exposure and, when exposure to insect bites is unavoidable, to use bug spray and other deterrents to insect bites.
In terms of paralysis from infections related to food, your best defense is to follow safe handling instructions such as washing your food, avoiding cross contamination, and cooking your food to the recommended temperature. There are many myths and misconceptions about what it is like living with paralysis. Some of the most pervasive myths about paralysis and the people living with it include that people with paralysis:.
All you can do is focus on addressing the symptoms of your type of paralysis to minimize their effects on your life. Some spinal cord injury paralysis treatment options include:. There are a lot of avenues researchers are looking at when it comes to spinal cord injury research.
You have more traditional research areas like stem cell therapy , and then you have the more obscure research utilizing Chondroitinase ABC, the scar-eating enzyme. We will be talking about the latter in this article, highlighting one of the more hopeful areas of research we can remember.
They discovered that embedding the Chondroitinase ABC enzyme in lipid microtubes on a group of dogs with naturally occurring spinal cord injuries helped them regain some limb function. The enzyme was able to eat away at the scar successfully. This is exactly what researchers are hoping will happen in humans; the Chondroitinase ABC enzyme will eat away at the scar on humans with spinal cord injuries, and help spur nerve regeneration.
The spinal cord injury community has known about the Chondroitinase ABC enzyme for almost two decades. Discovered in the United States by Dr. Jerry Silver, it was discovered that one could stabilize the enzyme Chondroitinase ABC when taking it from certain strains of bacteria.
King's College in London has been researching how Chondroitinase ABC can help spinal cord injuries for almost two decades. Since , there have been several studies looking at Chondroitinase ABC.
In , it was discovered that combining treadmill therapy and exercise in combination with Chondroitinase ABC in animal models showed better than expected functional discovery.
Encouraged by these results, in Spinal-Research. In , Dr. Silver and his team looked at how Chondroitinase ABC, when combined with nerve graphs, could help return respiratory function in quadriplegic rodents, and they discovered that within 12 weeks a flush of the new nerves grew at the injury site, helping partially restore breathing. Meanwhile, severe head or neck injuries and neuromuscular disorders can lead to permanent paralysis.
Damage to the spinal cord is the most common cause of paraplegia. Flaccid paralysis damages the lower motor neurons that stimulate skeletal muscle movement. Over time, the muscles shrink or deteriorate. Spastic paralysis causes muscle stiffness, involuntary spasms, and muscle weakness. This form of paralysis can result from spinal cord injuries, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS , stroke, or hereditary spastic paraplegia.
Symptoms vary, depending on the type and cause of the issue. The most common paralysis symptom is the loss of muscle function in one or more parts of the body. According to the results of the U.
Paralysis Prevalence and Health Disparities Survey , the most common causes of paralysis in the United States include:. Muscle weakness and paralysis result from damage to the nervous system, which any of the health problems above can cause.
A healthy nervous system sends information back and forth between the brain and the rest of the body. Signals from the brain travel down the spinal cord and into the peripheral nerves throughout the body. Some other possible causes of nervous system damage and resulting muscle weakness or paralysis include:. Certain species of tick produce neurotoxins that can cause muscle weakness and acute paralysis of the feet in humans.
Most people make a full recovery after the tick is removed. However, without any intervention, tick paralysis eventually leads to respiratory failure. Currently, no cure for paralysis exists. However, depending on the cause and type of the issue, some people experience partial or complete recovery. Also, when paralysis results from a spinal cord injury or chronic neurological condition, a person may recover partial muscle control.
They may refer you to a hospital specialist for more tests if they're unsure what's causing your symptoms. These problems could be a sign of something serious that needs to be treated in hospital straight away. Paralysis can have a big impact on your life, but support is available to help you live as independently as you can and have the best possible quality of life.
Page last reviewed: 18 November Next review due: 18 November Paralysis is the loss of the ability to move some or all of your body. Symptoms of paralysis The main symptom of paralysis is the inability to move part of your body, or not being able to move at all.
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