ClinicalTrials.gov is this week’s spotlight.

This Website is dedicated to providing information on a variety of traumatic brain injury (TBI) trials. If you are interested in participating in cutting edge research regarding various aspects of TBI, this is a good place to start looking for information.

Clinical trials are essential to TBI research as they determine which drugs and treatments are approved for human use. While tests on lab animals are what initially decides whether or not a drug is effective, they need human test subjects to figure out if they will really work or if they are ineffective.

Researchers often face the problem of not being able to find enough trial participants. This holds up the process of publishing a potentially beneficial drug. Some trials offer compensation, and all offer high levels of medical care while you are participating in the study

Shaken Baby Syndrome has been prevalent in the news lately, not from an increase in incidents, but from a larger push for awareness of this painful topic. The Woman’s Hospital of Greensboro has created an “evidence-based shaken baby prevention program” that will begin educating parents after they have given birth but before they are discharged.

The goal of the program is to significantly reduce Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) in North Carolina by 50 percent in the next five years. Standing out, this intervention program is the largest and most comprehensive in the nation. By sharing this information with all new parents, the hospital will benefit an estimated 125,000 babies a year.

SBS affects between 1,200 to 1,400 babies a year, and one out of four don’t survive. The brain injury resulting from this type of brain trauma includes seizures, mental retardation, delayed development, paralysis, impaired cognitive function, broken bones and more. When the child is shaken, the brain is knocked against the sides of the skull, causing extensive damage to the soft tissue.

Close to 80 percent of the perpetrators are male and more than 60 percent of the victims are also male. With these statistics, it makes sense that programs are developed that educate both of the parents or caregivers involved. SBS usually occurs when adults become angry or frustrated, often due to the period of excessive crying that dontshake.org calls “PURPLE Crying”. The purple period is from about two weeks old until four to five months after the child’s birth.

Various programs such as the one at the Woman’s Hospital of Greensboro and the PURPLE program offer booklets and videos that are designed to prepare new parents for their child’s crying. They provide details on how to deal with the situation in a healthy manner and how to find relief for themselves before they lose control and shake the baby.

Image credit here.

According to a recent Newswise article, the University of Washington’s Computer Science & Engineering department is working on personalizing computer interfaces based on an individual’s needs. This will take into account your disability and the limitations it imposes, unlike the pre-made devices you buy in the store.

In order to make sure you are properly matched to your computer, the university will administer a skills test that then allows them to generate a mathematical model geared towards your needs. An optimization program will then figure out how long it will take you to finish applicable tasks, measuring your accuracy and speed.

This program, named Supple, will be able to help people with limitations ranging from paralysis to poor eyesight. The creators see this application starting as a Web-based program that will eventually adapt to traditional interfaces.

Currently, the majority of technologies are made to help you adapt, not the other way around. You can buy arm supports, adaptive computer desks and stools, stands for your paperwork, specially designed mice and many other products created to make your computer access easier. Imagine doing away with all of these extra accessories and instead logging directly into a computer that is geared to help you without assistance. A nice idea and one we fully support!

Professor Gerd Kempermann, speaking at the FENS2008, speculated that the newest stem cell hypothesis is operating from the premise that stem cells are used by the brain for maintenance, not regeneration.

This idea helps to explain why there are so many stem cells in the brain when their natural tendency doesn’t seem to be to replicate into needed cells (taking the place of damaged cells). Instead these cells help the brain compensate for the injured parts, supporting the brain’s ability to properly function.

An interesting and applicable fact is that these cells are stimulated to produce new neurons with exercise and increased cognitive use. The use of your body and your mind increases your brain’s ability to maintain its health and plasticity.

Sounds like a good thing to pay attention to!

So far this research is limited to mice, but Professor Kempermann believes that the same principals will also apply to the human brain.

Concussions, it would seem, are not gender neutral.

A study released from the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center found that a patient’s recovery from a concussion varies greatly between men and women, with women recovering slower. A concussion, caused by a blow to the head through sports, car accidents, etc., affects various cognitive functions from memory to speech.

The findings underscore that men and women shouldn’t be administered to in the same way when it comes to treating a concussion. The study tested memory, attention, processing speed and reaction time in men and women after a concussion. The results were that females had more symptoms, slower reaction time and decreased verbal memory and processing speed than men.

The study also looked at people with a prior history of head trauma and found that they too performed poorly on the follow-up tests.

Researchers aren’t sure exactly what accounts for the difference in recovery processes between men and women, but they have ruled out size difference being a determining factor. When it comes to traumatic brain injury, every little bit counts. Knowing how different brains react to an injury will help doctors determine more effective methods for influencing recovery.

Original story here. (American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (2008, July 10). Men And Women With History Of Concussion Mend Differently, Study Finds.)

Visual midline shift (VMS), when a person is unable to clearly sense where their center is, causes a loss of balance that prevents people from keeping to a straight line and even affects concentration. A potentially dangerous condition, VMS is caused by a stroke or a brain injury.

Neuro-optometric rehabilitation is a small but promising field of therapy that uses prism lenses to correct the distorted view that patients suffer from. Worn only during the therapy sessions, these prisms have had great success with patients who suffer from various results of disturbed brain pathways.

For more information, please click here.

No, we aren’t talking about the Peg who lives down the street and collects lawn ornaments. PEG stands for polyethylene glycol, a nontoxic molecule that when injected intravenously can help to repair cellular membrane damage in the corpus callosum area of the brain.

PEG eliminates the amyloid precursor protein (APP) that builds up as a result of traumatic axonal brain injuries. When this protein begins to accumulate, cells begin to die.

Not only does research find PEG benefiting brain injuries, but studies have also shown that it has helped repair nerve membranes after spinal cord injuries in guinea pigs. While PEG has been tested on animals up to this point, a good deal of the research has promising human application.

For a good definition of PEG, click here.

Accepting Your Feelings after Brain Injury

The time following a brain injury is an incredibly confusing, frustrating, and emotional period for both the survivor and his or her family and friends. All involved should be expected to experience a wide variety of emotions, from depression to denial, from anger to hopelessness. These feelings are completely normal, and the patient and his or her family shouldn’t feel bad about having them.

Patients and their families and friends should be encouraged to share their feelings with the physician, therapy team, and counselors, and should talk about, in particular, what is distressing them. Perhaps they are afraid that they won’t have the same relationships with their friends, or perhaps they are worried about ever working again. Talking to someone who knows what the future is likely to hold can bring emotional relief, and can help the patient focus on what’s really important—recovery.

According to the HealthDay News, the Alzheimer’s drug memantine may help reduce damage to cells in premature babies, sparing them brain injury.

“Memantine blocks a type of glutamate receptor in the brain called the NMDA receptor. In premature babies, hypoxic-ischemia leads to over-activation of NMDA receptors, resulting in a pattern of white-matter brain injury called periventricular leukomalacia (PVL).”

What this means is that the use of this drug may be helpful if used as a preventative therapy for infants. It’s promising to see useful applications coming out of some seemingly unrelated drugs. The potential for benefits to be found for TBI in accident victims increases every time these cross-applications are studied.

For the whole story, click here.

Electrolytes such as magnesium, calcium and phosphate are important to our health as they help prevent hypertension, heart rhythm fluctuation, and muscle weakness.

Researchers are finding that patients with traumatic brain injury are at risk for hypomagnesemia, hypokalemia and hypophosphatemia due to the loss of these valuable electrolytes. One of the primary causes of this loss is increased urination potentially due to th use of Mannitol.

Magnesium is necessary for a variety of enzyme reactions and it is needed to regulate both potassium and sodium transportation. Without it, there is a potential for hypocalcemia and cardiac arrhythmias that can lead to sudden death. Phosphate levels play a role in physiologic functions such as the maintenance of muscle tone. Low levels of phosphate have been linked to respiratory infection and decreased cardiac output which can lead to weakness, anorexia, bone pain and respiratory arrest.

To take care of yourself after a cranial injury, make sure to increase your P, K, Mg and Ca supplements. Taking care of the aspects of your health that you have direct control over will go a long way to making recuperation that much quicker!

For a detailed study, click here.

Image from here.