A report described as ’startling’ reveals the prevalence of paralysis in America:  1 in 50 Americans is living with paralysis to one degree or another.  The report suggests the previous way paralyzed individuals have been counted has left out an extremely large segment of the actual population.

Previous counts of paralyzed individuals were mostly limited to patients in specialty treatment centers like the one in which the late actor, Christopher Reeve, was treated.  The report, funded by Reeve’s foundation - the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation - says the actual count of people living with spinal-cord injuries alone is much higher than previously estimated.  Some findings of the report, conducted by the University of New Mexico, include:

• The number of Americans living with spinal-cord injuries, almost 1.3 million people, is five times higher than previously thought;
• 5.6 million people suffer paralysis from various causes;
• Some of those causes include spinal-cord and brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, surgical complications, and birth defects;
• 60% of all paralyzed Americans live in poverty, in households with incomes less than $25,000 per year;
• 25% live in homes where the income level never reaches $10,000/year, an income level that includes only 7% of the general population;
• Disabled workers must wait 24 months before qualifying for Medicare benefits;
• Air cushions, a vital necessity to wheelchair-bound individuals, cost about $400 but most insurance companies don’t approve the expense until a patient suffers a pressure-related skin ulcer, treatment of which can cost as much as $75,000; and
• It is becoming increasingly difficult for paralyzed patients to get Medicaid coverage due to the program’s income limitations and increasingly limited state funds available, as the current economic situation creates system-wide struggling in every state.

The research team surveyed 33,000 households across the US to determine how many people cannot move or experience difficulty moving at least one extremity due to paralysis.  One mission of the study is to explore the scope of paralysis in America so better programs can be developed to help these patients cope with everyday needs such as transportation and job opportunities.

Dr. Edwin Trevathan says one reason so many paralyzed individuals have been overlooked in previous counts is because they are living longer than ever before.  Trevathan, disabilities chief for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), helped design the study.  As with everyone, medical needs escalate with advanced age and many paralyzed patients are seeking medical care for advancing age as well as for their disabilities.  As they come forward with new medical needs, the medical community is becoming more aware of the full scope of the situation.