It could serve as a health care slogan: Take extra care of body parts that don't regenerate.
The lungs and spinal cord come first to mind. Warnings about lung damage abound. Now, perhaps, it's time to focus more acutely on spinal cord damage.
A story in Monday's Deseret Morning News highlighted the problems. Between 1998 and 2003, 400 Utahns suffered spinal cord injuries — 72 percent of them male. Young adults between 15 and 24 are the highest risk among males. Half of their injuries come from motor vehicles. Falls are another cause, as are failed suicide attempts and sports mishaps.
The sad news is that — according to Utah Department of Health's Violence and Injury Prevention Program — most of those injuries, which often entail a lifetime of paralysis, didn't have to happen.
Risky behavior is the culprit.
When people don't buckle up in their cars, or try goofy stunts to impress others or don't play sports using the proper techniques and mechanics, they take a chance of getting much more than a few bruises, scrapes and maybe a broken bone or two. They risk getting an injury that will affect the quality of their lives for the next 60 years.
Other sources confirm the concern. The Spinal Cord Injury Web site claims as many as 230,000 Americans are now living with spinal cord injuries. The cost of medical care varies with age and severity, but a spinal cord injury often exceeds $500,000 the first year for treatment and $50,000 for each year after. Unlike some disabilities that come to people who are in ill health, spinal cord injuries have the devious reputation of being visited on the most fit among us.
Support groups abound. The National Spinal Cord Injury Association, for example, looks for ways to help people find a higher quality of life after their injuries and works with families and friends of victims in an attempt to make relationships and care easier to manage.
Americans are well aware of the prevalence of back problems. "Oh my aching back!" has become more than an expression, it is a cry coming from more and more people in pain.
Society has highlighted many health issues over the years. If statistics and growing concern are indications, the time is now ripe to tackle back ailments.