Spinal cord

Looks like

A finger-thick cord of nerve tissue running down the spinal canal, ending near the first lumbar bone.

What it does

The cable between brain and body, and the seat of reflexes.

Keeping it well

Seatbelts, helmets, no diving into shallow water. Weakness in both legs with bladder trouble is an emergency.

Its parts

• Grey matter (anterior & posterior horns)
• Ascending & descending tracts
• Central canal
• Cauda equina
• Spinal nerve roots (31 pairs)
• Dorsal root ganglia
• Conus medullaris
• Filum terminale
• Central canal of spinal cord

Related conditions

• Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• B12 & folate deficiency
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Botulism
• Cauda equina syndrome
• Chiari malformation and syringomyelia
• Chickenpox (varicella)
• Chronic neuropathic pain
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Friedreich's ataxia
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Herniated disc
• Lyme disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Neck pain and cervical spondylosis
• Neurofibromatosis type 1
• Neurogenic bladder
• Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Poliomyelitis
• Rabies
• Restless legs syndrome
• Shingles (herpes zoster)
• Spina bifida & neural tube defects
• Spinal cord injury
• Spinal muscular atrophy
• Tetanus
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies