Therapy combo heals spinal injuries

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga., July 10 (UPI) -- Hands-on therapy combined with laser healing, electrical stimulus, diet and exercise can reverse severe spinal cord injuries, a U.S. researcher says.

The integrative manual therapy is the added component bringing new hope to "no hope" patients, Sue Leger told UPI Thursday.

Leger, who combined IMT with the other components after completing a doctorate in spinal cord injuries at Westbrook University, said dozens of spinal cord patients who doctors had put in the "no hope" category a year after being paralyzed regained significant control of bodily functions with this combination program and, in many cases, began walking and driving cars without special hand controls.

"It's the unique combination of the hands-on structural work with traditional rehabilitation that does the trick," said Leger, who directs CenterIMT Atlanta in Fayetteville, Ga.

The treatment has been effective in helping patients -- some almost as severely injured as the late actor Christopher Reeve -- show significant recovery from their injuries, she told UPI.

Reeve was paralyzed after falling off a horse in an equestrian event in 1995. He was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life and died of cardiac arrest at age 52 in 2004.