Progesterone treatments bring hope to brain injury victims

Victims of traumatic brain injury are often left hopeless given their prognosis. Consequences, including mental and physical impairments, can be severe and lasting. For many families, it is difficult to know where to turn or how to adapt to life with a physical or mental disability. Now, victims of brain injury caused by car accidents, falls or other trauma may find hope in a hormonal brain injury remedy.

If you or someone you love has suffered a brain injury in Hartford, Connecticut, you may benefit from current medical treatments to prevent serious disability or death caused by a head injury.

Current studies are examining whether new hormonal treatments can minimize brain damage if administered within four hours after an injury. Patients are given a three-day infusion of progesterone, the reproductive hormone. Research evidence suggests that the hormone can reduce mortality and disability if administered immediately after a traumatic brain injury. The outcome has been assessed six months after the injury.

The medical community is hopeful, but cautious, as brain injury is very complicated. Not surprisingly, hormonal remedies have produced a wave of excitement, as this is the first approved treatment serious brain injuries. Many doctors are optimistic because early data has been promising. Mortality rates were significantly reduced and those with moderate injuries had greater functional improvement.

Some doctors believe that the hormonal remedies could also be used to treat other brain injuries, including damage caused by stroke. Accident victims and their families may be positively impacted by the outcome of this medical breakthrough.

Source: The New York Times, “A hormonal remedy for brain injuries is explored,” David Tuller, June 18, 2012.