Administration of progesterone for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients after the injury on an immediate basis can minimize the degree of disability and risk of death besides being a safe option, as per a new study.

Researchers from the Emory University were of the view that progesterone treatment for traumatic brain injury has been extensively studied with laboratory animals for as much as 15 years. It was also suggested that progesterone treatment is capable of minimizing brain swelling besides preventing nerve death, and enhancing functional outcomes.

From News-Medical.Net:

In a phase II three-year pilot study, called ProTECT (”Progesterone for Traumatic brain injury–Experimental Clinical Treatment”), the Emory researchers enrolled 100 participants who reached the emergency department within 11 hours of injury, in order to evaluate whether progesterone can be administered intravenously in a reliable way, and whether the treatment is safe to use in humans with TBI.

People enrolled in the study had a “blunt” traumatic brain injury, which typically occurs from a car accident, motorcycle crash or a fall, and lead researcher Dr. David W. Wright and colleagues randomly assigned the patients to receive an intravenous dose of progesterone or an inactive “placebo.”

The death rate in the 30 days after injury was 13 percent in the progesterone group compared with 30 percent in the comparison group indicating that progesterone cut the risk of death by 57 percent.

No serious side effects were seen with the hormone or with the placebo.

Progesterone is a promising treatment because it is inexpensive, widely available and has a long track record of safe use in humans in treating other diseases.

Wright’s team was able to contact 92 percent of patients who survived 30 days and saw evidence that progesterone improved the recovery of patients with moderate brain injury, however those patients with severe injury seemed to glean no benefit from the hormone.

The study also brought the fact that progesterone is found to be critical for development of neurons in the brain in a normal manner along with exerting protective effects on the damaged brain tissue.

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