Monthly Archives: February 2012
The frequency of brain injuries in the military and organized sports has helped increase the need to understand and prevent such injuries, but now a new study might be offering hope in developing effective treatments for a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Los Angeles Times reported on February 20, 2012, that a new study conducted on brain-injured rats showed a still-investigational drug resulted in better post-injury maze-running. According to the Times, the drug, called clazosentan, blocks the receptors in the brain that start the restriction in blood flow. When administered in the rats two hours after a high-speed blow to the head and again at 24 hours post-injury, clazosentan maintained blood flow to the hippocampus, a key brain region involved in memory. While the Times said the study is still unpublished, it will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in April. However, the study also noted…
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Last week, we discussed a study in which researchers stated that serious abuse was a bigger threat to infant safety than sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Less than a week after that study was released, the South Bend Tribune published a story on February 12, 2012, that further examined some of the difficulties doctors in Indiana face in diagnosing abuse. The Tribune’s story focused primarily on the case of 15-month-old Alissa Guernsey, who had been seen by medical professionals 15 times in the four months between the time that she had been placed in foster care with her mother’s cousin and her death in March 2009. A coroner concluded that Alissa suffered from blunt force trauma—a common cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI)—to her head, and her death was ruled a homicide. Dr. Antoinette Laskey, a pediatrician who specializes in child abuse at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University…
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