Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:42:4
Linda Young - AHN Editor
Dallas, TX (AHN) - People who suffer a traumatic brain injury might recover faster if they are given a dose of estrogen, researchers at the UT Southwestern Medical Center say.
Researchers used double blind studies in two clinical trials to find out if a single, early dose of estrogen after a person suffered a severe traumatic brain injury or traumatic hemorrhagic shock could improve neurological and survival outcomes.
They are administering a single-dose of estrogen or a placebo within 72-hours and will monitor the results.
Estrogen is being used because previous studies have indicated it helps.
"Following traumatic brain injury or hemorrhagic shock, secondary injury, such as inflammation, begins rapidly and greatly worsens the initial injury," Dr. Jane Wigginton, assistant professor of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern and the trials' principal investigator, said in a statement. "Hundreds of animal studies have shown that estrogen significantly reduces secondary injury. Those studies give us hope that this new therapy offers considerable promise and minimal risk following one dose in patients with life-threatening traumatic injuries."
The study is important because about 35 percent of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury or hemorrhagic shock die and many survivors are permanently disabled, researchers say.
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