Final answer:
Most spinal injuries occur due to traumatic accidents, often from car crashes or motorcycle accidents, and can lead to varying levels of paralysis, depending on the severity and location of the injury on the spinal cord.
Step-by-step explanation:
70-80% of spinal injuries are usually due to traumatic accidents, such as car crashes, falls, and sports injuries. When the spinal cord is damaged, it impairs the ability of the brain to communicate with the body, potentially leading to varying degrees of paralysis based on the injury's location and severity. Car crashes and motorcycle accidents, for example, are significant causes of both brain and spinal cord injuries, often resulting in immediate death or disability.
Spinal cord injuries lead to conditions such as paraplegia, where an individual loses motor control and sensation in the lower body, or quadriplegia which affects the arms, hands, trunk, legs, and pelvic organs. The type of paralysis, whether it is hemiplegia affecting one leg or complete paralysis, depends on whether the entire spinal cord or just a part of it, such as in a hemisection, is damaged. Given this information, we understand that prevention and immediate medical response are crucial to dealing with these types of injuries.