Could standard treatment for traumatic brain injury...(efore is to identify the optimal brain f...),Health

"Our work is challenging because we're questioning a standard protocol," said Dr. Christopher Giza, UCLA associate professor of neurosurgery and a co-investigator on the NIH grant. "If the brain is actually asking for fuel (glucose), that means that after trauma, Mother Nature is shifting gears and changing the chemistry of the brain. These concepts and constructs are what we're going to be examining closely."

"The majority of head injuries are called mild traumatic brain injuries," Hovda said. "But what we've discovered is the path of physiological consequences measured in severe head injuries also occurs in mild traumatic head injuries as well. So this research might just change what's put in the IV bag at the onset of treatment."

Over the past 20 years, there have been more than 75 clinical trials for traumatic brain injury, but none have resulted in a standard treatment for TBI. The current grant will have both a research and a clinical component: The research will look at the use of alternative fuels and how these fuels enter the brain and contribute to the healing process, while the clinical aspect will test alternative fuels and examine the possible threat to recovery after TBI when hyperglycemia is stopped.

Interest in continuing research on head trauma recovery is widespread and is supported by, among others, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the World Boxing Council and the U.S. Department of Defense.

"We wish there was a cure for TBI," Hovda said. "But for now all that's available is rehabilitation therapy. Patients diagnosed with epilepsy or depression have medications that may help. But as of now there is no cocktail remedy for TBI. Our hope is to change that."

'/>"/>