Spinal cord injury research triggering an immune system response. Animal studies with injection of bone marrow stem cells have shown improvement in motor function; however not so in a human trial a year post-injury. More trials are underway. Adipose and umbilical tissue stem cells need further study before human trials can be performed, but two Korean studies were begun to investigate adipose cells in SCI patients. Transplantation of tissues such as olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory bulbs has been shown to produce beneficial effects in spinal cord injured rats. Trials have also begun to show success when olfactory ensheathing cells are transplanted into
Sexuality after spinal cord injury can occur in the cervical (neck), thoracic (back), lumbar (lower back), or sacral (pelvic) levels. Between each pair of vertebrae, spinal nerves branch off of the spinal cord and carry information to and from specific parts of the body. The location of injury to the spinal cord maps to the body, and the area of skin innervated by a specific spinal nerve, is called a dermatome. All dermatomes below the level of injury to the spinal cord may lose sensation. An injury at a lower point on the spine does not necessarily mean better sexual function; for example, people with