Category Archives: Brain Injury Treatment

CHICAGO The hunt for brain injury treatments has suffered a big disappointment in a major study that found zero benefits from a supplement that the U.S. military had hoped would help wounded troops. The supplement is marketed as a memory booster online and in over-the-counter powders and drinks. It is also widely used by doctors in dozens of countries to treat traumatic brain injuries and strokes, although evidence on whether it works has been mixed. U.S. scientists had high hopes that in large doses it would help speed recovery in patients with brain injuries from car crashes, falls, sports accidents and other causes. But in the most rigorous test yet, citicoline worked no better than dummy treatments at reducing forgetfulness, attention problems, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms. We very much were disappointed, said Dr. Ross Zafonte, the lead author and a traumatic brain injury expert at Harvard Medical School. We took a therapy that is utilized worldwide and we found that at least its present use should be called into question. The study involved 1,213 patients aged 18 and older hospitalized at eight U.S. trauma centers. They had mild to severe traumatic brain injuries blows to the head resulting in … Continue reading →

Public release date: 20-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Tim Sullivan tsullivan11@partners.org 617-573-2918 JAMA and Archives Journals CHICAGO Although approved for use for treating traumatic brain injury (TBI) in nearly 60 countries, use of citicoline in a randomized trial that included more than 1,200 participants with TBI did not result in improvement in functional and cognitive status, according to a study appearing in the November 21 issue of JAMA. "Despite considerable advances in emergency and critical care management of TBI as well as decades of research on potential agents for neuroprotection or enhanced recovery, no effective pharmacotherapy has yet been identified," according to background information in the article. Citicoline, an endogenous (produced within the body) compound, offers potential neuroprotective properties as well as neurorepair post injury. Citicoline is widely available in the United States as a nutraceutical (product that reportedly provides health and medical benefits) and is used by patients with a range of neurologic disorders, yet it has not been evaluated in a large randomized clinical trial for TBI. Ross D. Zafonte, D.O., of Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues conducted a study to evaluate the efficacy of citicoline for improving … Continue reading →

A dietary supplement sold as a brain stimulant failed to help head trauma patients improve in function and thinking in a study, challenging the drugs use as a treatment option for the condition, researchers said. Patients with traumatic brain injury who were given the supplement, citicoline, scored similarly on function and cognition tests as those given a placebo, according to the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Previous animal research and pilot clinical studies had suggested the supplement might reduce cerebral injury caused by head trauma, stroke or aging. Citicoline, available as a supplement for more than a decade, is used mostly outside the U.S. for brain injury as well as in stroke and Alzheimers disease, said Ross Zafonte, the lead study author. Todays findings call into question the supplements use for head trauma, he said. We were disappointed to find that it did not appear to make a difference in outcome at 90 and 180 days post-injury, Zafonte, a professor and chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School in Boston and vice president of medical affairs at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, said in a Nov. 19 telephone interview. We are heartened … Continue reading →

November 20, 2012 By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer CHICAGO (AP) The hunt for brain injury treatments has suffered a big disappointment in a major study that found zero benefits from a supplement that the U.S. military had hoped would help wounded troops. The supplement is marketed as a memory booster online and in over-the-counter powders and drinks. It is also widely used by doctors in dozens of countries to treat traumatic brain injuries and strokes, although evidence on whether it works has been mixed. U.S. scientists had high hopes that in large doses it would help speed recovery in patients with brain injuries from car crashes, falls, sports accidents and other causes. But in the most rigorous test yet, citicoline worked no better than dummy treatments at reducing forgetfulness, attention problems, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms. "We very much were disappointed," said Dr. Ross Zafonte, the lead author and a traumatic brain injury expert at Harvard Medical School. "We took a therapy that is utilized worldwide and we found that at least its present use should be called into question." The study involved 1,213 patients aged 18 and older hospitalized at eight U.S. trauma centers. They had mild to … Continue reading →

CHICAGO (AP) The hunt for brain injury treatments has suffered a big disappointment in a major study that found zero benefits from a supplement that the U.S. military had hoped would help wounded troops. The supplement is marketed as a memory booster online and in over-the-counter powders and drinks. It is also widely used by doctors in dozens of countries to treat traumatic brain injuries and strokes, although evidence on whether it works has been mixed. U.S. scientists had high hopes that in large doses it would help speed recovery in patients with brain injuries from car crashes, falls, sports accidents and other causes. But in the most rigorous test yet, citicoline (see-tee-KOH'-leen) worked no better than dummy treatments at reducing forgetfulness, attention problems, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms. "We very much were disappointed," said Dr. Ross Zafonte, the lead author and a traumatic brain injury expert at Harvard Medical School. "We took a therapy that is utilized worldwide and we found that at least its present use should be called into question." The study involved 1,213 patients aged 18 and older hospitalized at eight U.S. trauma centers. They had mild to severe traumatic brain injuries blows to the head … Continue reading →

TUESDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The supplement citicoline does nothing to help improve brain function in patients with traumatic brain injury, a new study finds. In the United States, citicoline is widely available at health food stores as a nutraceutical -- a product that reportedly provides health and medical benefits -- and is used by patients with a range of neurologic disorders. Citicoline is also approved for treatment of traumatic brain injury, but such use had not been evaluated in a large, randomized clinical trial, noted Dr. Ross Zafonte, of Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues. Their phase 3 clinical trial included more than 1,200 patients with mild, moderate or severe brain injuries. The patients started taking either citicoline or an inactive placebo within 24 hours of their injury and continued the therapy for 90 days. Brain function tests conducted after the treatment period showed little difference between the two groups of patients. Rates of improvement ranged from about 35 percent to 86 percent in the citicoline group, similar to 36 percent to 84 percent observed in the placebo group. A second evaluation, conducted six months after the brain injury, again revealed … Continue reading →

The hunt for brain injury treatments has suffered a big disappointment in a major study that found zero benefits from a supplement that the U.S. military had hoped would help wounded troops. The supplement is marketed as a memory booster online and in over-the-counter powders and drinks. It is also widely used by doctors in dozens of countries to treat traumatic brain injuries and strokes, although evidence on whether it works has been mixed. U.S. scientists had high hopes that in large doses it would help speed recovery in patients with brain injuries from car crashes, falls, sports accidents and other causes. But in the most rigorous test yet, citicoline (see-tee-KOH'-leen) worked no better than dummy treatments at reducing forgetfulness, attention problems, difficulty concentrating and other symptoms. "We very much were disappointed," said Dr. Ross Zafonte, the lead author and a traumatic brain injury expert at Harvard Medical School. "We took a therapy that is utilized worldwide and we found that at least its present use should be called into question." The study involved 1,213 patients aged 18 and older hospitalized at eight U.S. trauma centers. They had mild to severe traumatic brain injuries blows to the head resulting in … Continue reading →

BEIJING and LUND, Sweden, November 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroVive, the leading mitochondrial medicine company, today announces a collaboration agreement with Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd. for the development and commercialisation in China of NeuroVive's most clinically advanced products CicloMulsion and NeuroSTAT. Sihuan Pharmaceutical is one of the largest domestic pharmaceutical companies in China and the market leader in the fast-growing Chinese cardio-cerebral vascular (CCV) drugs market. The agreement was entered into by Sihuan Pharmaceutical through its wholly-owned subsidiary Sun Moral International (HK) Ltd. and by NeuroVive through its subsidiary NeuroVive Pharmaceutical Asia Ltd. CicloMulsion and NeuroSTAT are in clinical development by NeuroVive for the treatment of heart reperfusion injury after stenting and traumatic brain injury respectively. These are indications of huge medical need for which there are currently no approved pharmaceutical treatment options. Both products act to prevent the death of mitochondria in damaged cells and the cascade of intracellular biochemical events that lead to secondary tissue damage following a traumatic injury. By protecting a cell's mitochondria NeuroVive's products ensure that energy production is preserved and a damaged cell's normal regenerative mechanisms can act to repair and maintain the cell. CicloMulsion and NeuroSTAT contain cyclosporine which, by inhibiting cyclophilin … Continue reading →

Updated: November 18, 2012, 3:28 PM ET Bare Essentials Sports MedicineBrett Banasiewicz at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga. earlier this week. On September 24, DK Bicycles BMX pro Brett Banasiewicz was transported to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga. to begin rehabilitation on a traumatic brain injury suffered on August 23 in Virginia Beach, Va. Banasiewicz was transported to Atlanta via MedJet medical transport, and entered the Shepherd Center on a stretcher. Yesterday morning, he walked out of the facility on his own. Banasiewicz, 18, will remain in the Atlanta area for several days to finish up treatment in a hyperbaric chamber before returning home to South Bend, Ind. for the Thanksgiving holiday. After some time at home with his family, Banasiewicz will travel to Dallas, Texas to begin outpatient therapy. Upon entering the facility in Atlanta, Banasiewicz set three goals for himself: leave the wheelchair, leave the feeding tube behind and get his voice back. He accomplished all three goals, having the feeding tube removed earlier this week, mumbling "I want an iPhone 5" on Friday and walking to the car yesterday. Banasiewicz also regained over twenty pounds in the past two weeks. "See ya later Shepherd Center, … Continue reading →

ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico are comparing supercomputer simulations of blast waves on the brain with clinical studies of veterans suffering from mild traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) to help improve helmet designs. Paul Taylor and John Ludwigsen of Sandia's Terminal Ballistics Technology Department and Corey Ford, a neurologist at UNM's Health Sciences Center, are in the final year of a four-year study of mild TBI funded by the Office of Naval Research. The team hopes to identify threshold levels of stress and energy on which better military and sports helmet designs could be based. They could be used to program sensors placed on helmets to show whether a blast is strong enough to cause TBI. Many TBI sufferers experience no or subtle immediate symptoms that may keep them from seeking medical attention. The sensors could alert them to a potential problem. "Our ultimate goal is to help our military and eventually our civilian population by providing guidance to helmet designers so they can do a better job of protecting against some of these events we are seeing clinically and from a physics perspective," said Taylor, Sandia's principal investigator on the … Continue reading →