Traumatic Brain Injury: Brain Protection With Progesterone

Traumatic brain injury has become the signature wound of the war in Iraq. The trend is troubling, especially since many doctors don't think adequate treatments for brain injury exist. However, doctors at Emory University think that they may have made a major step in the treatment of brain injury; high doses of the pregnancy drug progesterone show promise as treatment.

Protecting the Brain with Progesterone

In a preliminary study of 100 patients, doctors gave brain injured patients high intravenous doses of progesterone within 12 hours of their injury. Those who were given the hormone had a 57 percent less chance of dying. The study's lead author, Dr. David Wright, says that the study "gives hope where there has been no hope before." Researchers believe that progesterone may offer protection to the brain during pregnancy.