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Stopping spread of brain damage in stroke victims
SMC Alert
03/11/10
EMBARGOED UNTIL
7
AM THURS 4 NOV (NZT)
Stopping the
spread of brain damage in stroke
victims
**Under global embargo until 7
a.m. Thurs 4 Nov (NZT)**
Current
therapies for stroke victims depend on rapid access to
medical care. Within hours of a stroke, irreversible brain
damage begins spreading to neighbouring regions of the
brain. Now a New Zealand neuroscientist's team has found a
promising way to enhance recovery in these surrounding
areas, even when treatment is delayed. The study is
published online this week in the prestigious journal
Nature.
Dr Andrew Clarkson, Research Fellow at
the University of Otago, conducted the study in mice, which
found that recovery of surviving neurons close to the stroke
region can be improved using a drug that blocks the build up
of a specific brain signalling molecule (GABA).
Crucially, delaying treatment by several days after a stroke still resulted in noticeably improved recovery.
A second New
Zealand research study, whose results were published last
week in The Lancet Neurology, focuses on predicting a
patient's chances of movement recovery following a stroke.
The study, out of the University of Auckland's Centre for
Brain Research was profiled in a media release issued this
morning.
Comments from New Zealand stroke and applied neuroscience researchers below:
Associate Professor Winston Byblow, Director of the Movement Neuroscience Laboratory, University of Auckland, (researches novel ways to promote movement recovery after stroke), comments:
"This exciting discovery about recovery after stroke is based on the soundest methodologies available to modern neuroscience. While there is no guarantee of an immediate breakthrough for human patients, the message to reduce tonic inhibition in the stroke affected brain provides scientists and clinicians a clear target at which to take aim in future trials"
Professor Valery Feigin, Director - National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences (NISAN), Faculty of Health & Environmental Sciences, AUT University, comments:
"This is a groundbreaking research that may lead to new therapies to stimulate neuroplasticity and eventually better stroke recovery. Unfortunately, none of the previous most promising discoveries in stroke therapies tested in animals were later on proven effective in humans. It is my hope that this one would be an exemption from that rule."
Dr Cathy Stinear, Senior Lecturer in Applied Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Medicine, Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland comments:
"This work helps us understand the neurophysiology of human stroke recovery. It creates new opportunities for increasing plasticity and improving patient outcomes."
ENDS
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