Healing Damaged Brains
Reported June 02, 2008
(Ivanhoe Newswire) There is new hope on the horizon for millions of people who suffer from brain injuries.
New research from scientists in the Carolina Resuscitation Research Group at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine focused on newly born neuronal stem cells. They could play a major role in treating brain injuries if scientists could learn how to harness their formation.
The study, which was conducted on rats, found the growth of these newly born neurons was significantly decreased by mild hypothermia, or cooling. The finding tells scientists the cells can be regulated, which suggests they may one day be used to treat brain injured patients.
Many questions remain before we adequately understand how to control these cells to repair a damaged brain, study author Laurence Katz was quoted as saying. However, the findings represent an important step in demonstrating that these cells can be controlled by simple external forces like hypothermia.
SOURCE: Presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting, May 31, 2008