Hormone could help heal traumatic brain injuries

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A hormone produced by the body could help heal a traumatic brain injury.

Health issues lead to Lester Talley's near fatal accident. The husband and father of two suffered a serious traumatic brain injury.

"My brain had started swelling," Talley said.

"There really is no definitive therapy for the treatment of acute brain injury," said Dr. Laskowitz a neurologist.

Lester's wife Ashley feared the worst.

"Seemed like my world was coming to an end," Ashley Talley said.

While in a coma, Lester was enrolled in a phase three trial called Synapse. The study is testing if progesterone could help treat traumatic brain injury It is a natural hormone produced in men and women that's most often associated with pregnancy.

"There is good evidence that it reduces inflammation," Laskowitz said.

The hormone has to be given within eight hours of an injury. It is infused into the brain for five days straight.

"...and their ultimate endpoint is how they are doing at six months," Laskowitz said.

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Hormone could help heal traumatic brain injuries