Two new studies…choice is diet or drugs to help TBI/traumatic brain injury (research amino acids)

UPDATE TO PAGE SEPTEMBER 6 2012 

“Amino-Acid Deficiency Found to Underlie Rare Form of Autism

Genetic mutations in a metabolic pathway could be fixed with protein supplements“

I wrote this page in 2010.  The question is how “rare” is this?  This most recent study only looked at 6 children and we are STILL at or about 100 percent success with a casein-free whey isolate protein which was blended with Turmeric, Amalaki, Haritaki, Gymnema, Green Tea, Guggul, Cocoa, and also Cinnamon orCayenne Pepper with well over one thousand families from all over the world.  

The remainder was written October 20th, 2010

To me, one of the most profound bits of research for TBI may have slipped past most in the world -but there were two recent studies on traumatic brain injury and a discovery on neuro repair. Up till recently, there was no treatment. In the study from December of 2009 Neurology researchers have shown that feeding amino acids to brain-injured animals restores their cognitive abilities and may set the stage for the first effective treatment for cognitive impairments suffered by people with traumatic brain injuries.

“We have shown in an animal model that dietary intervention can restore a proper balance of neurochemicals in the injured part of the brain, and simultaneously improves cognitive performance.” said study leader Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.”

“If the results in mice can be reproduced in people, patients with traumatic brain injuries could receive the BCAAs in a drink.”~ Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Cohen suggests that BCAAs as a dietary supplement could have a more sustained, measured benefit than that seen when patients receive BCAAs intravenously, in which the large IV dose may flood brain receptors and have more limited benefits

“A drink?”

“We have shown in an animal model that dietary intervention can restore a proper balance of neurochemicals in the injured part of the brain, and simultaneously improves cognitive performance,” said study leader Akiva S. Cohen, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“If these results in mice can be translated to human medicine, there would be a broad clinical benefit. Every 23 seconds, a man, woman or child in the United States suffers a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The primary cause of death and disability in children and young adults, TBI also accounts for permanent disabilities in more than 5 million Americans. The majority of those cases are from motor vehicle injuries, along with a rising incidence of battlefield casualties.

Although physicians can relieve the dangerous swelling that occurs after a TBI, there are currently no treatments for the underlying brain damage that brings in its wake cognitive losses in memory, learning, and other functions.

The animals in the current study received a cocktail of three branched chain amino acids (BCAAs), specifically leucine, isoleucine, and valine, in their drinking water.”

And a few months later another study published found “Drug therapy that combines a derivative of the antibiotic tetracycline and a synthetic derivative of an amino acid may help patients suffering from traumatic brain injury, a new study in animals suggests”

Learn more about an individual with TBI and stroke who’s language center was damaged who’s doctor’s believed may never to speak again, yet he went from 20% to 82% intelligibility in about a month on a drink that contained the same amino acids as this study.

And there is recent research by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) together with the Department of Defense (DOD) which concluded is that within the first 24 hours of a head trauma, patients need calories and a higher-than-normal amount of protein in order to reduce brain swelling and to provide enough energy to help the brain repair itself.

In the report of the research completed by the Institute of Medicine and the Department of Defense they describe the need for branched chained amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) and their important role in the production of the essential neurotransmitters. (These branched chain amino acids are found naturally through a food source in a protein powder we’ve been using in the group)

If these nutrients are delivered quickly after brain trauma, and then maintained for two weeks afterward, damaged brain cells are more likely to get the energy they need to heal, raising the chances for the patient’s survival and better recovery, the review concludes.

The U.S. Defense Department commissioned the report because traumatic brain injuries among U.S. soldiers have become more common. Cases of TBIs have tripled in the past decade, mostly from explosions from improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But the scientists behind the findings say while they were focused on TBIs in soldiers, their advice could apply to anyone with a recent brain injury. The report authors note that brain injuries contribute to nearly one-third of all injury-related deaths in the United States. As well, between 1.6 million and 3.8 million sports-related TBIs occur annually.

The IOM researchers said they looked at several other nutritional approaches for reducing the symptoms of brain injury. And while some others showed potential, there wasn’t yet enough evidence about the effectiveness of any of the other approaches to recommend them. Only the evidence on calories and protein was most compelling.

The IOM scientists noted that their study focused only on the role of nutrition in treating the immediate effects of a traumatic brain injury; it didn’t look at how diet could be used as therapy in the rehabilitation phase of a brain injury.

Still, they did say that further research is warranted in the effects of a number of other nutrients, including  n-3 fatty acids commonly known as EPA and DHA.

The good news again is that if the body is provided all the essential nutrients -it is able to produce the nonessential nutrients of which there are thousands. Some of these nonessential nutrients are used today as individual supplements as treatment by biomedical doctors to treat autism (as just one example) If your body is able to now produce them as they should be able to because you supply all it needs that is essential in a form that is easily digestible.

Essential nutrients are those that the body needs all of every day but can’t produce itself, which just means we need to consume them in our diet daily. All of them. There is an issue however probably due to a combination of poor diet and weakened metabolic systems that either we don’t get all the essential nutrients into our body that we need daily, and/or our body can’t digest and utilize all that is consumed. Whey isolate protein contains per serving ALL of the essential amino acids and nutrients needed daily. It is typically difficult to get all of the essential amino acids and nutrients in one meal.

if the body is provided all the essential nutrients it is able to produce the nonessential nutrients of which there are thousands. Some of these non essential nutrients are used today as individual supplements as treatment by biomedical doctors to treat autism (as just one example) If your body is able to now produce them as they should be able to because you supply all it needs that is essential in a form that is easily digestible….that alone ‘may’ be the answer or a large part of why casein free whey isolate protein which was blended with Turmeric, Amalaki, Haritaki, Gymnema, Green Tea, Guggul, Cocoa, and also Cinnamon orCayenne Pepper appears to be helping so many conditions and ages across the board and with such dramatic results in most cases.

I’ve seen it with my own eyes in my boys,

LISA GENG