A significant number of spinal cord injuries in the UAE are not due to traumatic causes, such as car accidents, according to experts.
Every year, somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 people suffer an injury to their spinal cord, according to the World Health Organisation.
Globally, most of those cases, up to 90 per cent, result from traumatic causes, said the global health body.
“The most common causes of traumatic spinal cord injuries would be road traffic accidents, falls, injuries due to violence or sports,” said Dr Khalid Anwar, consultant of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Amana Healthcare, who was speaking ahead of World Spinal Injury Day on September 5.
“These are the main reasons for the traumatic injuries.
“But I think many people would be surprised to know there are many causes of non-traumatic spinal cord injuries.
“And in fact the incidence of non-traumatic spinal cord injuries [in the UAE] is greater than traumatic spinal cord injuries.”
Non-traumatic spinal cord injuries result from numerous causes, he said.
Some patients receive injuries to their spinal cord due to compression, which could include narrowing of the cord.
“Some patients would have a tumour in the spinal cord, which could be a primary tumour or metasteses from a tumour in any other part of the body.
“Another reason could be because of inflammatory causes or autoimmune causes. For example, we know that patients with MS can, because of the inflammatory process, sustain damage to the spinal cord, which results in weakness of their limbs.”
Other causes include damage from radiation, infection or a disruption of blood to the spinal cord, in a process that is similar to a stroke in the brain, known as an infarction.
Teenager on road to recovery after severe spinal injury
He said one recent patient, an 18-year-old Emirati woman who was referred to Amana late last year, suffered a spinal cord injury this way, due to infarction, which caused a blockage in blood supply to the spinal cord.
The cause of the blood clot was never discovered. But she has been able to make a good recovery, despite suffering a severe injury as a result.
“In some patients, in spite of a lot of investigation, we are unable to find what caused it. Unfortunately she was in that group of patients.
“Normally you would expect such kind of thing to happen in elderly patients whose vascular system was not good. But in an 18-year-old, it is very expected. Unfortunately, that is what she had,” said Dr Anwar.
The resulting damage left her with weakness in all four limbs and difficulties breathing. When she arrived at Amana she was on a ventilator.
She was gradually weaned off it and embarked on intensive therapy, which included strengthening exercises and occupational therapy that helped her relearn how to do things for herself again.
She was discharged from inpatient care in March, walking with a stick. She has since resumed her studies in microbiology.
“She is very lucky in that despite what looked like a very severe injury to her spinal cord, she has done extremely well. I know she is still needing help with bowel and bladder management.
“But apart from that she is mobilising, she is socialising. She goes out, she has gone back to her educational activities and all that.”
She is one of the lucky ones. A significant number of patients with spinal cord injuries do not recover as well as she has.
The spinal cord can either suffer a complete or incomplete injury, said Dr Anwar.
“Of patients who have complete injuries, so complete disruption of all the nerves, the chances of them recovering fully is very little. Although with rehab, they do regain independence depending on where the level of injury was.
“But the patients with incomplete injuries have a good chance of improvement, which can take from a few months to a few years. It’s not something that happens very quickly.
“The chances of recovery all depends how severe the initial spinal injury to the cord is. That is very important.”
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7.05pm: UAE 1000 Guineas Trial Conditions (Dirt) | $100,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Al Hayette, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
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9.25pm: Handicap (T) | $175,000 | 1,400m | Winner: Another Batt, Connor Beasley, George Scott
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
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FIXTURES
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth
Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide
Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n)
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane
Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n)
Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne
Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Sydney
Note: d/n = day/night
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok
UAE fixtures Mon Nov 20, v China; Tue Nov 21, v Thailand; Thu Nov 23, v Nepal; Fri Nov 24, v Hong Kong; Sun Nov 26, v Malaysia; Mon Nov 27, Final
(The winners will progress to the Global Qualifier)
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
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Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
If you go
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Seattle from Dh5,555 return, including taxes. Portland is a 260 km drive from Seattle and Emirates offers codeshare flights to Portland with its partner Alaska Airlines.
The car
Hertz (www.hertz.ae) offers compact car rental from about $300 per week, including taxes. Emirates Skywards members can earn points on their car hire through Hertz.
Parks and accommodation
For information on Crater Lake National Park, visit www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm . Because of the altitude, large parts of the park are closed in winter due to snow. While the park’s summer season is May 22-October 31, typically, the full loop of the Rim Drive is only possible from late July until the end of October. Entry costs $25 per car for a day. For accommodation, see www.travelcraterlake.com. For information on Umpqua Hot Springs, see www.fs.usda.gov and https://soakoregon.com/umpqua-hot-springs/. For Bend, see https://www.visitbend.com/.
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
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The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1,300rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
