Doctor - Reeve has regained some movement, sensation

ST. LOUIS -- Seven years since a horse-riding accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, Christopher Reeve has regained some movement and sensation in his hands and feet, a St. Louis neurologist who developed his treatment said Tuesday.

The "Superman" star also can breathe without a ventilator for about an hour at a time, offering hope of recovering -- at least partly -- from such "worst-case scenario" spinal cord injuries, said Dr. John McDonald, a Washington University neurologist at St. Louis' Barnes Jewish Hospital.

While cautioning that Reeve's advances should not be interpreted as a cure, McDonald said progress by the actor and disability activist should illustrate that "stepwide improvements are possible, and that's what we should be aiming at."

Researchers, McDonald said, continue trying to ascertain how rehabilitation therapies help mend the spinal cord and to determine the prospect of reversing quadriplegia.

"Anything like this has a tendency to raise false hopes -- that's not what we want to do," said McDonald, who since evaluating Reeve in 2000 has adjusted the actor's home therapy to include McDonald's "activity-based recovery program," combining electrical muscle stimulation and repetitive motion exercises.

McDonald said it remains unclear whether Reeve would ever walk again -- something Reeve had hoped to do by his 50th birthday on Sept. 25 -- or to regain bowel or bladder function.

"Where the recovery will end we also don't know," said McDonald, medical director of the Spinal Cord Injury Program at Washington University School of Medicine. "Nobody can tell if Christopher or anyone with such an injury will walk."

Since beginning McDonald's program, Reeve can move his right wrist, the fingers on his left hand and his toes. He can feel a pin prick on most parts of his body and can tell the difference between sharp and dull.

"To be able to feel the just lightest touch is really a gift," Reeve told People magazine for a story in the Sept. 23 issue.