Curated Content
Published at SpinalCord.com
An estimated 12,500 spinal cord injuries occur in the U.S. every year, leaving the injured people, their friends, and their families, to cope with the aftermath of the catastrophe. For many, navigating the challenges of the health care system can feel a bit like going to medical school. Suddenly you’re learning a veritable cornucopia of new terms and may be spending endless hours Googling spinal cord anatomy to fill in the gaps in your knowledge.
Some people may think of their spinal cord as one single piece, it’s actually a column of nerves protected by a sheath of myelin and then further secured by 31 butterfly-shaped vertebrae (singular: vertebra).
There are many functions of the spinal cord, the greatest of which is serving as the signal relay channel from the brain to the rest of the central nervous system and back.
Read the full article at SpinalCord.com