When I saw this crazy headline I thought it had to be a joke. But no my beloved readers, it’s true. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York have discovered that the dye that makes M&M’s blue - Brilliant Blue G - blocks the chemicals that swarm in after a spinal injury and kills the healthy cells around the injury site.
They also found that the dye can even restore function, restoring the ability to walk (up to 70%) in all rats who received the injection. Wow. Restore function. This just blows me away. Let’s be honest, who in their right mind what have ever thought that BLUE DYE was capable of mending acute spinal injuries? It’s like Heinz 57 curing cancer. WTF a million times over….
Anyways, as I said above, the dye only worked in rats with acute spinal injuries. The rats in the control group who did not receive the Brilliant Blue G injection in the first 15 minutes never regained the ability to
walk. The dye also had the bizarre side-effect of turning the rat’s skin blue, a la Violet in Willy Wonka and Dr. Manhattan from Watchman. Not a bad trade-off though, and especially since it’s only temporary. I think my blonde hair would contrast with the blue nicely anyways.
So where does that leave me…you? It’s been 15 years - not 15 minutes - since my injury, so eating a shit-ton of blue M&M’s probably won’t do a thing . But, being that I love chocolate, it doesn’t hurt to try. I’ll report back later with the results.
Wish me luck! :p
- "Calling All Chocolate Lovers!" discussion, on Disaboom
- "I need chocolate," on Disaboom
- The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis (great org), on Disaboom
