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(Ivanhoe Newswire) Researchers find a new way to protect the brain from injury after blunt force trauma. The study finds a simple polymer mixed in sterile water and given intravenously could limit brain damage. However, researchers say the treatment has to be done within four hours after the injury.
Researchers from Purdue University conducted the study by experimenting with Polyethylene glycol (PEG) on rats. The rats were injured with falling weights. PEG was given to them fifteen minutes, two hours, four hours and six hours later. A series of tests were also done on the rats to determine how effective the PEG treatment was for protecting the brain. They found if the treatment was delayed to six hours later, the positive effects were lost.
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Study authors say an IV at accident scenes could provide this treatment easily. This could potentially reduce long-term brain injury in humans. A series of veterinary clinical trials testing PEG on dogs that suffered brain injury is now being done.
SOURCE: Published online in the Journal of Biological Engineering
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