Reducing Stroke Damage by Cooling the Brain

A new collaboration has been formed to examine if cooling the brain could reduce the damage that occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen immediately following a stroke.

Researchers from Harbin Medical University (HMU, China) and the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI, Newcastle, Australia) are collaborating on advance research into cooling the brain after a stroke. The HMU research team will evaluate the effectiveness of a cooling helmet, while the HMRI Stroke Research Group will investigate intravascular technology that cools the blood. Brain imaging technology pioneered in the HMRI will be used in both the Australia and China trials to assess and compare the effects of the two cooling technologies. The Australian `stroke trial will begin in mid 2008 and the Chinese trial is likely to begin in 2009. The World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) estimates that stroke affects 15 million people worldwide each year, with five million experiencing lasting disability.

"The collaboration on stroke research with HMU is one example of the University's recent extensive engagement with our counterparts in China,” said Professor Barney Glover, Ph.D., deputy vice-chancellor of research at the HMRI. "This strategic focus on developing our international partnerships is reaping rewards for our students, Hunter researchers and our local community.”

It is not known exactly how hypothermia works to reduce tissue death following a stroke. Scientists researching this technique theorize that hypothermia's protective benefits come from slowing the body's metabolism, which in turn reduces the chemical reactions that lead to brain cell death. Cooling also is known to reduce inflammation, another cause of brain injury after a stroke. Hypothermia may also protect against further damage to brain cells that can occur when clot-busting drugs, such as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), are used to restore blood flow.


Related Links:
Harbin Medical University
Hunter Medical Research Institute