'Booze therapy' for brain injury

[steven johnson]

Decreasing central nervous system complications after an injury continues to be a mystery in medicine. Here is an intriguing result even if it is a poor reason to drink alcohol.

A dose of alcohol may be a good treatment for people with head injuries, emergency doctors suggest.

Their basis for this is the discovery that people appear less likely to die following brain trauma if they have alcohol in their bloodstream.

The amount of alcohol consumed appears to be important - too little and there is no effect, too much and the beneficial effects are lost, studies on animals suggest.

Experts believe the right dose of alcohol, however, stops the cascade of swelling, inflammation and further destruction of brain cells, known as secondary brain injury.

'Booze therapy' for brain injury