Following is the second, and final, installment. You have predicted that effective treatment for SCI will be available around the year 2003. At that time, I told him that it would take a minimum of seven years. Christopher said that we should make seven years the goal. It is important to understand that the seven-year time is a goal and not a prediction.
Many obstacles lie in our path to a cure.
The foremost obstacle is the limited funds that are available to develop and test therapies in clinical trial. Clinical trials are not guaranteed to succeed and each may take 3-4 years to complete. We may have to throw the dice several times to get an even number. However, if 5 people were to throw the dice at the same time, the probability that we will have one or more even numbers is virtually certain. We therefore have to push hard for many groups all over the world to throw the dice.