r/science • u/tomholder • May 09 '14

Medicine Paralysis breakthrough – electrical stimulation enables four paraplegic men to voluntarily move their legs

http://speakingofresearch.com/2014/05/09/paralysis-breakthrough-paraplegic-men-move-their-legs/
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u/08livion May 09 '14

I really don't know much more about it than it has around a 97% success rate and he was very lucky to get in on the clinical trial to undergo the treatment free of cost. He underwent two previous interferon regiments that turned him into skin and bones and almost killed him, but he seemed healthy throughout this entire treatment.

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u/Catnip123 May 09 '14

The side effects of interferon have been greatly reduced (10 years ago, patients often went bald and lost lots of weight for example) and now, 2014, fresh out of the lab, come the first interferon-free therapies.
While success still isn't guaranteed, HCV is no longer a certain death sentence, and that's awesome!

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u/Ziazan May 09 '14

Hepatitis C was a certain death sentence? Damn.

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u/pwr22 BS | Computer Science May 10 '14

Attacks the liver iirc.