MOVING STORIES CHRISTOPHER REEVE IS ONE OF MANY NOT TAKING SPINAL CORD INJURY LYING DOWN.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

The ability to twitch an index finger does not carry much significance in the able-bodied world, but to actor Christopher Reeve and many who have suffered spinal cord injuries, that twitch is the equivalent of completing a triathlon.

Reeve's recent disclosure that he has regained some feeling and movement, more than five years after an equestrian accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, has researchers and exercise therapists trumpeting the virtues of rehabilitation filled with exercise. It's advice that goes against a commonly held belief that the average spinal cord injury patient won't see improvement after the first year following the injury, no matter how hard the patient works at rehabilitation.

``Most individuals are informed not to expect improvement and that they shouldn't take steps to further stimulate their bodies'' says Dr. Susan Harkema, associate professor of neurology at UCLA School of Medicine. ``Christopher Reeve provides an experience of what can happen when one doesn't accept the 'get used to it' syndrome.''

The subject of a recent ABC documentary, an article in the Journal of Neurosurgery and the author of the fittingly titled autobiography ``Nothing Is Impossible'' (Random House; $25), the former ``Superman'' star has become a veritable poster child for hard work and the hope that it can bring.

Reeve has reported experiencing feeling in his fingers, wrist and feet after following a treatment regimen that includes a stationary bicycle, electrical stimulation of muscles and pool therapy. He can now sense some forms of touch and is able to breath without his respirator for extended periods of time.

He is also a proponent of stem cell research and lauded Gov. Gray Davis' signing of legislation last week that opens the door to such research in California. Had the debate over embryonic stem cells not become a political football, the actor maintains, scientists might have been in human trials by now, and his goal of walking by his 50th birthday (last Wednesday) might have been attainable.

Research should continue to move forward, he says, and insurance companies should approve payment of less traditional forms of treatment and rehabilitation with greater frequency.

``What we're trying to show is that conventional wisdom is now falling by the wayside,'' Reeve said during a recent conference call with reporters. ``We want to show it's possible to get recovery way after injury if you keep exercising on a regular basis.''

Others, however, caution that patients with spinal cord injuries should be careful about how much optimism they derive from Reeve's news - either for the actor's future or for their own.

``God bless (Reeve) for trying and for all the work he's doing,'' says Dr. Thomas Hedge, medical director of the Center for Rehabilitation at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. ``The real problem here is he's working to be normal again, and it's never going to happen.''

Groundbreaking but expensive

Still, there is a growing movement that the ``get used to it'' philosophy of recovery from spinal cord injuries is falling into disfavor. One need only spend time at California State University, Northridge's Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled or study the growing client list at Ted Dardzinski's Project Walk in San Diego to see how unsedentary a life paraplegics and quadriplegics are prepared to lead.

However, specialized treatment is by no means inexpensive. Project Walk's therapy is $3,000 a month. Reeves said his care alone, which includes a ventilator and 24-hour nursing assistance, costs nearly $400,000 a year. Even customized wheelchairs can run more than $20,000.

Project Walk clients spend hours out of their chairs and on a floor. They do weight-bearing exercises and ride stationary bicycles. Therapy is tailored to individual goals.

Clients leave training sessions upbeat and, frequently, exhausted. Project Walk's methods will be the subject of a research study conducted by Wayne State University in Michigan, the results of which will be presented in 2004. Dardzinski expects his client list to top 100 by the end of next year.

And his methods are still considered controversial.

``We have a lot of nasty things said about us on the Internet,'' says Dardzinski. ``The biggest thing I get accused of is giving these people hope. But we've got a small window of opportunity here. They have their whole life to live life in a wheelchair. I figure why don't we try to do something about it. Let's just work and see what happens?''

Mario Miragliotta is doing just that. This summer, the former assistant conductor of the American Youth Symphony relocated from Van Nuys to Vista to be closer to his therapy at Project Walk - and to increase it. Paralyzed in a car accident in June 2001, Miragliotta now works out up to four hours a day, five days a week, supplementing his work with Dardzinski with pool therapy. ``He's addicted to it now,'' says Dardzinski. ``It's like a drug.''

Miragliotta reports that his arms are stronger, and he can now sit by himself on a stationary bicycle. Arm and upper body strength, balance and endurance have also improved. Miragliotta, who has conducting engagements with AYS and with a San Diego-based company that does children's performances, hopes to one day conduct from a standing position in a specially configured wheelchair.

An ambitious goal, perhaps, but Miragliotta thinks that not having a goal is worse.

``The neurologist looked at my X-rays and said, 'You should just try to exercise in your wheelchair. Do as much as you can in your wheelchair,' '' recalls Miragliotta, 32. ``He followed that by saying, 'Don't do anything stupid, like standing.' ''

``That was just devastating to hear. This is a guy telling me to sit for the rest of my life. The neurologists care about putting a titanium plate in your neck and sending you home. Goodbye, good luck. They don't care about what happens to you after your surgery.''

Keep on moving

Miragliotta took part in a spinal cord study conducted by CSUN's Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled. The center's Taylor Isaacs, a clinical exercise physiologist, says he has been following Reeve's news ``with religiouslike passion, with the fervor of a zealot.''

But he's hardly surprised. The Center of Achievement, which emphasizes making maximum use of clients' abilities, has been witnessing these types of breakthroughs for 40 years, according to Isaacs.

``We live by the philosophy that the only true disability is a sedentary lifestyle,'' says Isaacs. ``If it's movement, it's therapy.''

One of Isaacs' clients, Aaron Baker, is a motocross racer who, with 2 1/2 years of rigorous therapy, went from being ``a head in a bed'' to snorkeling in Hawaii, according to Isaacs.

Christopher Reeve may never reach that level, but Isaacs says his accomplishments should not be discounted.

``If someone is unable to move and then they're able to move, to that person, it's the biggest breakthrough on Earth,'' says Isaacs. ``It proves anything is possible.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) New sensation

Christopher Reeve's progress gives hope to others with spinal cord injuries

(2) Aaron Baker, left, paralyzed from the neck down in a motocross accident, works out with Taylor Isaacs at CSUN's Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(3) Christopher Reeve, with wife Dana, has been exercising extensively in an effort to recover sensation and movement lost due to his spinal cord injury.

Tina Fineberg/Associated Press

Box:

PARALYSIS AND MOVING TOWARD RECOVERY

Associate Press