Promising treatment for traumatic brain injuries

Dan Deuterman

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Researchers may have discovered breakthrough treatment for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) with the hormone progesterone.

Emory University has been conducting research on how progesterone helps speed the healing process of the brain. TBI has become a common injury of American troops in Iraq and, unfortunately, was what ABC news anchor Bob Woodruff suffered after a bomb explosion while reporting from Iraq in January 2006. Traumatic brain injuries are also common after car accidents, falls and other workplace injjuries .

This new treatment would be especially beneficial to EMTs responding to accident scenes. When victims of TBI are given high doses of progesterone either immediately at the accident scene or even within a few hours, it can reduce their chances of dying 57 percent.

Progesterone could become standard supplies for all EMTs, researchers recommend.

"Traumatic brain injuries happen every day in the United States, most commonly after car accidents and falls. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.4 million Americans suffer brain injuries each year, and 50,000 die as a result"