Diagnosis: prolapse of intervertebral disc

Prolapse of intervertebral disc – exactly located A prolapse of an intervertebral disc may imply that the conduction of stimuli by the nerves from the thigh to the chest is disturbed. By a stimulus at the foot (e.g. by electrical stimulation or a stitch with a needle) the impulse conducted by the nerve tracts to the spinal cord is exactly followed by biomagnetic observation. In the place where the magnetic field subsides no impulse is sensed: Here the stimulus conduction is interrupted. The disturbance is clearly identified. Other extensive investigations are carried out on patients suffering from paralysis due to disturbed brain function as, for example, after a stroke. In this case, the responsible regions in the brain can no longer process the nervous signals. Or what is still more tragic: The brain no longer gives commands to activate the muscles. In both cases, important functions of the body may fail although the limbs involved are completely sound. But the assignment of a cerebral region to an individual region of the body appears not to be very strictly defined as was first assumed. Occasionally a reorganization takes place in the brain so that other cerebral regions can take over the functions of the damaged parts after all. As soon as this spontaneous healing process of the body has been investigated, well-aimed measures can be developed and tried with a view to therapeutically assisting this strategy of the body.