Save Your Pet From Paralysis
An accident can result in the paralysis of your pet. But does that mean your pet will never walk again? Maybe not. There is a new injection available for pets, called PEG, or Polyethylene Glycol. Eighty percent of pets with spinal cord injuries will remain paraplegic for the rest of their lives, but with PEG, those odds can be reversed. This compound prevents nerve cells from rupturing and promotes faster healing. The dogs that have a positive reaction to this product are able to resume normal functioning. Since this experiment has been so successful, researchers are looking into human applications.
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Step 1:
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Pet paralysis is distressing.
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Fred Ferrnell's dachsund, Rusty, suffered a serious spinal cord injury while playing in the backyard. "He was just dragging his back legs around and whining." Unfortunately, Rusty had become a paraplegic. The prognosis was that Rusty would never walk again. Or so Fred thought.
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Step 2:
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New Pet Research.
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Rusty ended up in a research study at Purdue University. Scientists were studying a new injection that helps paralysis called PEG, or Polyethylene Glycol. "About 80% will remain paraplegic for the rest of their lives. What this compound does when we inject it is it reverses those odds.” PEG is a compound that prevents nerve cells from rupturing and promotes faster healing.
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Step 3:
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PEG has Amazing results.
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So far the results have been nothing short of amazing. The study found that nearly 75% of dogs treated with PEG were able to resume a normal life. “It directly labels intensely the area of damage which tells us that after injection, after getting into the bloodstream, it actually targets the areas of damage but has no attachment to any other normal tissue.” With the PEG results looking so promising for the four-legged friends, researchers are now looking at the possibilities of treating human subjects with the same procedure.
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Step 4:
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Humans may be next?
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For Rusty, the results were more than anyone expected. “And when we seen him, he was standing up on his back legs, kinda like he is right now, beggin, and it amazed us. Amazed us.” PEG is still in the research phase, but someday the injection could change the way all spinal cord injuries are treated.
For the Pet Report, I’m Mitch Wilder.
