Cordy Krebs faces a series of challenges after experiencing severe spinal cord injuries three years ago.
The 32-year-old from Didsbury in central Alberta was injured in a car accident and requires wheelchair use.
However, he soon learned that damage to his spinal cord meant that his brain could no longer control his body's blood pressure.
“Before the accident, I had no idea what my volatile blood pressure would look like. When my blood pressure was dropping, I was almost knocked out of bed to the chair,” Krebs said.
“At other times during the day, my blood pressure surges due to severe neuralgia, breaks out with sweat and experiences severe migraines.”
Krebs is part of an ongoing research at the University of Calgary based on key findings to stabilize blood pressure in people with spinal cord injuries.
Researchers say new implants in individuals with spinal cord injuries can help restore blood pressure levels.
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The University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine is involved in research with two other universities, leading to a rare dual publication in both Journals Nature and Nature Medicine.
Clinical trials also included Ecole Polytechnic Federare de Lausanne in Switzerland, University of Lausanne, and Sint Martensliniek from Radboudam in the Netherlands.
This study describes the development of targeted therapies to address blood pressure regulation in 14 participants in four clinical studies conducted in Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
He says he is the associate dean of the medical school at Aaron Phillips University, and spinal cord injuries cause the brain to lose its ability to regulate blood pressure, and high blood pressure can lead to stroke, but it reduces energy and reduces energy.
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“These really tell us this battle journey with people with spinal cord injuries that they have very low blood pressure and very high blood pressure, and with the treatments we have developed,” Phillips said.
Phillips says that, like heart pacemakers, they use implants to provide electrical stimulation and blood pressure regulation
“It works by electrically stimulating the spinal cord, and the nervous system communicates with electricity. After a spinal cord injury, the spinal cord is disconnected from the brain and all the connections and controls it is supposed to be.”
Fadi Gilgis, a neurosurgeon and associate professor in the school's Department of Clinical Neuroscience and Radiology, said the surgery was simple and the results were encouraging.
“It's about changing honest lives for many patients,” Gilgis said.
“It's very debilitating to have a big shaking in your blood pressure. People feel significantly better and really improve their quality of life.”
Government approval has been granted to launch pivotal trials of treatment at approximately 20 neurotic and neurosurgical research centres in Canada, Europe and the United States.
& Copy 2025 Canada Report