Spinal Transplant

- A Chinese Remedy - Remove Your Back Pain

Victims of chronic back pain were offered fresh hope with news of successful "spinal transplant" surgery. Spinal discs from accident victims were transplanted into patients with disc degeneration in the cervical spine in the cervical spine, the area nearest the neck. All reported improvements in their mobility and a reduction in symptoms such as weakness of legs and bladder.

A report in the Lancet says the pioneering treatment, carried out in china, offers hope for thousands or may be millions of sufferers of severe disc problems, particularly young people.

They often cannot be helped by existing treatments such as spinal fusion - which surgically joins bones in the spine, making them rigid - or artificial material to replace the defective discs. In some cases, these methods cause further degeneration of the disc above and below the area are most affected.

The disc transplants were carried out by doctors at the Navy General Hospital, Beijing, and the University of Hong Kong. Although disc transplants have been carried out in primates, it is a first time doctors have reported such surgery in humans.

The discs consists of cartilage that cushions the individual movements of vertebral bones. When the discs wear away or are damaged by disease, the bones press on nerves, causing pain and restricting movement.

Nia Taylor, chief executive of Back Care, said "It would be very interesting to read the full details because there are a minority of people for whom a problem with discs does not naturally get better. We would welcome any new treatment that can help."

The Chinese doctors used 13 discs, which was frozen and thawed out prior to transplant. Within three months the donor discs had successfully bedded in with existing spinal disc tissue. Now, five years later, all the patients show improvement and none has rejected the donor material.