All too often, New York families face the harsh reality of a spinal cord injury. Whether spinal cord injuries are sustained in car accidents, construction accidents or any other type of mishap, injury victims and their families often face a long road to recovery.

Paralysis is a devastating and life-changing type of injury. Unfortunately, many victims of spinal cord injuries never fully recover and have to deal with permanent paraplegia or quadriplegia. Despite major advances in medical research over the past few decades, a way to prevent permanent paralysis resulting from a spinal cord injury has proven elusive. However, new hope may be on the horizon thanks to a research study involving man's best friend.

Researchers have found that certain proteins increase damage to the spinal cord after an accident has injured the spine. With this in mind, they developed a drug that blocks these harmful proteins and prevents further damage to the spinal cord. So far, the research has proven to be effective in preventing paralysis in mice that have sustained a recent spinal injury.

The U.S. Department of Defense was so impressed with the technique that it recently granted $750,000 to expand the research program and test the technique on dogs. For the study, they have selected certain breeds of dogs that have long backs and are prone to spontaneous ruptures in their spines, which lead to paralysis. With their owners' consent, recently paralyzed dogs will receive the protein-blocking treatment. If the treatment is successful in dogs, researchers hope that a similar treatment will eventually be available for people have sustained a spinal cord injury.

Source: Chicago Sun Times, "Treating dogs' spinal cord injuries could help humans, too," Sharon L. Peters, Feb. 6, 2012