Performance Enhancing Drug to be used in Brain Injury
The same drug that has been misused as a performance enhancer illegally is now at the center of the world’s largest traumatic brain injury study. Erythropoietin or EPO has been used in endurance athletes including some cyclists in the Tour de France, long-distance runners, speed skaters, and cross-country skiers. EPO has been banned by the Tour de France, the Olympics, and other sports organizations. However, a study in Australia hopes to use its red blood cell promotion in accident and assault victims with severe brain damage. Recent discoveries have found the hormone EPO can protect brain cells. Starting next year almost 600 severe traumatic brain injured patients in 42 Australian hospital ERs will be involved in the study usin g a synthetic version of the hormone. Professor Rinaldo Bellomo hopes EPO will work wonders for brain injuries, “If the drug proves to be effective, it could mean the difference between a young man sitting in a nursing home with a tube down their nose and being totally dependent on others . . . or the same young man being perhaps slightly weak down one side or having an uneven gait but being able to catch a train to work and lead an independent near normal life,” he said.
