paralyzed man get spider bite, days later walks

Awesome! The investigator in me is full of questions, but none could be answered in a news article. A lot of the problems with brown recluse bites are related to the effects of phosphorus, but I'd love to know more details about this guy's condition, from injury until recently, and when he was last assessed. This could be unique to this individual or it could hold much promise for many other people.
 
When I read about this last week, the guy had a motorcycle accident 21 years ago which basically left the nerves in his lower body 'asleep'. The bite from the spider forced medical therapy to rejuvenate the tissue that survived the venom. This therapy consisted of light electro-static stimulation and this 'woke up' the nerves in his lower body. So it wasn't the bite itself, it was the therapy after the bite.
 
Thorn said:
Awesome! The investigator in me is full of questions, but none could be answered in a news article. A lot of the problems with brown recluse bites are related to the effects of phosphorus, but I'd love to know more details about this guy's condition, from injury until recently, and when he was last assessed. This could be unique to this individual or it could hold much promise for many other people.
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We don't have brown recluse spiders in Colorado, but we have the hobo spider which is almost the same thing.
 
Thorn said:
Awesome! The investigator in me is full of questions, but none could be answered in a news article. A lot of the problems with brown recluse bites are related to the effects of phosphorus, but I'd love to know more details about this guy's condition, from injury until recently, and when he was last assessed. This could be unique to this individual or it could hold much promise for many other people.
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I think the spider bite was unrelated to the discovery that his legs were able to react to electric signals from the brain.

I think it was the new assessment of his legs that was the key.
 
evince said:
I think the spider bite was unrelated to the discovery that his legs were able to react to electric signals from the brain.

I think it was the new assessment of his legs that was the key.
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That's the direction I'm leaning in as well. I've thought about this off and on since yesterday, and the most parsimonious explanation is that his initial or perhaps his latest assessment, if there was one, wasn't complete. If he became resigned to the notion that he would never walk then he might have ceased to try. Manipulations during his treatment for the spider bite then may have produced sensations that reached awareness, and they took it from there.

Makes you wonder how many others out there might be in the same situation, doesn't it?
 
Thorn said:
Awesome! The investigator in me is full of questions, but none could be answered in a news article. A lot of the problems with brown recluse bites are related to the effects of phosphorus, but I'd love to know more details about this guy's condition, from injury until recently, and when he was last assessed. This could be unique to this individual or it could hold much promise for many other people.
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A class mate of mine in elementary school died a long horrible protracted death from a brown recluse spider bite. He gradually rotted away. Necrosis set in his legs, which were amputated, and spread to his arms. When they decided to amputate his arms he comitted suicide by swallowing his tongue. Pretty bizarre.

What's scary is that brown recluses are a lot more common then people think. There in almost every home in the midwest but they do call them "recluse" spiders for a reason.
 
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Mottleydude said:
A class mate of mine in elementary school died a long horrible protracted death from a brown recluse spider bite. He gradually rotted away. Necrosis set in his legs, which were amputated, and spread to his arms. When they decided to amputate his arms he comitted suicide by swallowing his tongue. Pretty bizarre.

What's scary is that brown recluses are a lot more common then people think. There in almost every home in the midwest but they do call them "recluse" spiders for a reason.
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We have them too. You have to shake out towels, folded shirts, etc., and your shoes to be sure you won't get a nasty surprise. I understand too that the consequences of a brown recluse bite can be agonizingly painful. They're not very big, either, and I'm not keen to get so close as to identify the "violin" shape on the abdomen.

One or two hours north of here people also have to shake out boots, etc., because in the canyon areas they have a wealth of scorpions as well as spiders. Nature can be magnificient but it also can be quite deadly. Guess we should be happy not to live in the Australian outback. Doesn't Australia have the greatest variety (and perhaps number) of venomous snakes in the world?
 
Thorn said:
We have them too. You have to shake out towels, folded shirts, etc., and your shoes to be sure you won't get a nasty surprise. I understand too that the consequences of a brown recluse bite can be agonizingly painful. They're not very big, either, and I'm not keen to get so close as to identify the "violin" shape on the abdomen.

One or two hours north of here people also have to shake out boots, etc., because in the canyon areas they have a wealth of scorpions as well as spiders. Nature can be magnificient but it also can be quite deadly. Guess we should be happy not to live in the Australian outback. Doesn't Australia have the greatest variety (and perhaps number) of venomous snakes in the world?
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Yes, Australia has lots of seriously venomous snakes and some other rather nasty critters.

The brown recluse has a terrible venom. I have a co-worker with a small hole in his leg from a bite, and he was treated right away.
 
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