medicine

Claire Lomas became the first paralyzed woman to complete the London Marathon in a bionic suit. Check the via link for the full story!

This woman posted a photo gallery of her story on Imgur which led to a diagnosis of a genetic disease that affects connective tissues called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS). She explains the backstory in the description of the follow up picture post:

Five months ago, I posted "The Story Of A Broken Dancer." In this post, I told the story of how all I've ever wanted was to be a professional dancer, but that countless injuries and unexplained medical issues were coming in between me and my dream. Well, after posting this, hundreds of Imgurians commented on the post and messaged me saying I should look at different conditions or diseases they thought I had, but one that I received overwhelmingly was "Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Hyper Mobility Type III." I looked into it and decided it was worth a shot to get the testing done, and as of this morning, I have been officially confirmed to have EDS.

You can look through her original gallery right here:

How the treatment worked:

1) One of the patient's two olfactory bulbs was removed and the olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) were grown in culture

2) 100 micro injections of OECs were made above and below the damaged area of the spinal cord

3) Four strips of nerve tissue were placed across an 8mm gap in the spinal cord. The scientists believe the OECs acted as a pathway to stimulate the spinal cord cells to regenerate, using the nerve grafts as a bridge to cross the severed cord

Via BBC:

Darek Fidyka, who was paralysed from the chest down in a knife attack in 2010, can now walk using a frame.

The treatment, a world first, was carried out by surgeons in Poland in collaboration with scientists in London.

Details of the research are published in the journal Cell Transplantation.

Well, that's modern medicine and science for you!

Warning: Things get a little work-unsafe and gross in the end.