Study reveals potential treatment method for TBI

After a person here in Pennsylvania suffers a traumatic brain injury, several things can occur which can impact their health and condition. One is that their brain can experience swelling. This swelling can cause a significant amount of neurological harm to a person, as it can cut off blood and oxygen to the brain.

One of the things that plays a role in post-TBI brain swelling are water channels in the brain. A recent study from a university in Australia indicates that a pair of compounds that can affect water channel activity in the brain may, when properly timed, be able to help reduce brain swelling in TBI victims.

One of the compounds inhibits water channel activity, while the other enhances such activity. The study found that using the inhibiting compound early after a TBI and then using the enhancing compound later down the line could help keep swelling down in the brain and augment the brain’s own healing processes.

Thus, it is possible that this compound combo could perhaps lower the potential impacts of a TBI. It will be interesting to see what studies are done on these compounds in the future and if there will someday be a clinical TBI treatment method developed based on these compounds.

Obviously, anything that could help with reducing the harm TBIs can cause individuals would be a welcome development. For some individuals, their life is never the same after a TBI. The neurological damage such injuries and their consequences can cause can impair a person’s ability to perform all manner of different activities. Some people even have their earning capacity impaired by such injuries. When a TBI severely impairs a person’s ability to work, applying for Social Security Disability benefits may be an available option, depending on the specifics of the situation.

Source: Medical Xpress, “Timing is key for traumatic brain injury treatment,” David Ellis, Oct. 14, 2014