• Question: why are people sometimes born paralyzed

    Asked by to Paralysis on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Paralysis Challenge

      Paralysis Challenge answered on 17 Jun 2014:


      That’s a great question! Believe it or not, paralysis is not usually something that people are born with although in very rare cases a newborn may experience trauma during childbirth or soon thereafter and may have paralysis. In most cases, paralysis is something that occurs due to some sort of trauma later in life. Let’s start with spinal cord injury. You can see by the name that it is a kind of injury to the nerves that run inside the spinal cord. People get spinal cord injury when they sustain a great trauma to their spine, usually compressing it or stretching in a forceful way. The most prevalent cause of spinal cord injury around the world is motor vehicle accidents, but they can also occur in accidents during sports or recreation, or as a result of violence (combat injury). An important fact about spinal cord injury is that about half the injuries occur in people between the ages of 16 and 30. It is a devastating injury that happens to young people. That means they will spend many, many years living with paralysis, and will need help for a long time.
      Another form of paralysis is caused by stroke, which is a condition where the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. This is not something that people are born with, but rather may experience when they are older. Stroke is not caused by trauma, but rather by a sudden change in blood flow, usually because of a blood clot that travels to the brain and gets stuck, cutting off flow.
      Finally, there are conditions that a person can have at the time of birth that later in life can cause paralysis. An example is multiple sclerosis, where slowly over time nerves become damaged and eventually cannot function. Over time, people with multiple sclerosis can experience paralysis in different parts of their body.

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