Seattle-based University of Washington researchers are studying whether decreasing a spinal cord injury patient's body temperature after injury reduces the injury's severity, according to abc.
Here are four takeaways:
1. The government awarded WA's Neurotrauma Research Program $1 million for the study.
2. Following injury, the spinal cord loses approximately 2 million neurons, 14 billion synapses and 12 kilometers of fibers every minute.
3. By lowering a patient's body temperature using intravenous cold saline, researchers hope to stop spinal cord deterioration after injury.
4. The clinical study will implement the temperature cooling en route to the hospital in the ambulance.