A team of biomedical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have identified a cause of fluid swelling of the brain, or cellular edema,that occurs during a concussion.
The researchers discovered that pre-treating the cells with an existing, FDA-approved drug used for epilepsy and altitude sickness reduces the expression of a specific protein that causes swelling.
Their findings were published in a recent issue of Nature’s Scientific Reports .
“Our study found that mild traumatic brain injury resulted in increased expression of a protein called aquaporin-4, which caused a massive cellular influx of fluid, leading to increased astrocyte cell volume and injury,” said Kartik Balachandran, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. “We then worked with a drug called Acetazolamide. Our results showed that Acetazolamide minimized cell swelling and injury, suggesting a therapeutic role for this drug in reducing the detrimental effects of concussions.”
(Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Friday November 25 2016, @11:17AM
We will reach a point where sports will get even more violent due to our ability to heal or prevent neurological damage. No need for concussion-reducing rules or advanced padding if you can heal the damage as it accumulates.
Or sports as we know them will become obsolete as medical and genetic engineering advances allow athletes to become completely optimized and tweaked. Anti-doping will be thrown out the window since it would be forcing athletes to become a lower class that are less intelligent and healthy. 100-year-olds will become capable of performing the same feats as they did when they were in their twenties.
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