NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — More than two million Americans will suffer a traumatic brain injury this year. TBI is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the U.S., impacting memory, speech, mood and balance. Now, a new treatment could change the way we protect the brain after trauma.
One fall, one slip, and one crash can cause a head injury that can change a person’s life forever.
“We talk about the initial, the primary brain injury, which happens at the time of the accident. And then the secondary brain injury is the ongoing damage to the brain cells that can happen in the hours to days after the traumatic brain injury,” said Amelia Maiga, MD, trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
She says right now, doctors can only support the body and hope the brain heals itself.
“We have no specific treatment for traumatic brain injury that targets the brain injury itself or that avoids or lessens that secondary brain injury,” Dr. Maiga told Ivanhoe.
That could soon change. Vanderbilt is testing whether fresh frozen plasma, a component of blood, can limit brain damage in the hours after a traumatic injury.
“Giving plasma to patients with TBI appears to help their brain injury to recover faster and better,” explained Dr. Maiga.
Animal studies back it up, showing plasma, given within the first few hours of a TBI, can help protect brain cells and reduce swelling. And if the study succeeds, it could mark the first major breakthrough in TBI treatment in decades.
“It would be really positive to have something — whether it’s plasma or something else coming down the line — that we can give clinically that we know would help patients and we could return these patients to their families and their lives,” said Dr. Maiga.
Researchers hope that something as simple as a plasma transfusion could save countless lives.
Research shows that after a serious head injury, more than a quarter of patients die, and for those who survive, the mortality rate remains significantly higher long after. Researchers at Vanderbilt and other major trauma centers hope this study could lead to the first targeted treatment for TBI, one that might help patients everywhere recover stronger and live longer.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Matt Goldschmidt, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Sources:
https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awm185
* For More Information, Contact: Amelia Maiga, MD
Trauma Surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
and
Kylie Avery
Senior Public Relations Specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
and
Craig Boerner
Assistant Director, Media Director, National News Director at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
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