Research Provides Hope In The Prevention Of Cerebral Palsy
A new brain damage study out of the University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveals that researchers have identified a protein that may help babies who suffer brain injuries after the brain in deprived of oxygen and blood flow. Often these babies develop cerebral palsy as the result of this birth injury. Researchers have determined that high levels of a protective protein - Nmnat1 - substantially reduces the damage that occurs.
Symptoms of cerebral palsy can cognitive difficulties such as the inability the think and learn, as well as physical challenges such as the loss of movement or uncontrolled movement, trouble walking and difficulties related to other functions of the nervous system. If your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy of you feel he or she may have it, medical malpractice may have led to the condition. Consulting with a California birth injury attorney is important in order to determine your next steps.
As reported in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences:
“Under normal circumstances, the brain can handle a temporary disruption of either oxygen or blood flow during birth, but when they occur together and for long enough, long-term disability and death can result…If we can use drugs to trigger the same protective pathway as Nmnat1, it may be possible to prevent brain damage that occurs from these conditions…”
Because cerebral palsy has been attributed to brain injury due to inadequate oxygen and blood flow to the brain before, during or soon after birth, researchers wanted to see whether the same injuries occurred in the presence of increased levels of the protein.
In tests conducted on mice, those mice with enhanced levels of Nmnat1 showed reduced damage to the brain as early as six hours after being exposed to oxygen and blood flow deprivation. When measured a week later, mice with high levels of Nmnat1 had less damage to key brain structures injured in those with cerebral palsy. Laboratory studies of the mice’s brain cells showed that Nmnat1 successfully prevented necrosis – a form of cell death that occurs as a result of inadequate oxygen and blood flow.
Scientists will be following up on this research and with an eye toward helping those suffering from brain injuries.
For more information, or if you believe your child suffered a brain injury at birth, contact the dedicated San Francisco birth injury attorneys at Bostwick & Peterson to discuss your legal rights.
