A New Jersey congressman is working to keep the mechanisms in place for the funding, research, spread of information and treatment of traumatic brain injury and concussion. Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dist.), co-founder of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force announced today he is seeking reauthorization of the Traumatic Brain Injury Act that was first passed in 1996. If not reauthorized, the TBI Act will expire at the end of the year. "Both the prevalence and the complexity of these injuries call for more research and better care," Pascrell said today at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Saddle Brook. The reauthorization of the TBI Act focuses on creating a funding formula for the allocation of grant money and allowing states to sustain and build concussion care programs, among other goals. Pascrell also authored the Concussion Treatment and Care Tools (ConTACT) Act that calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop guidelines and protocols for the management and treatment of sports-related concussions sustained by student-athletes. Visit link: Congressman working for reauthorization of concussion act that supports concussion care for youth athletes … Continue reading →

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is extending the testing of its Blast Gauge that measures the abrupt pressure and acceleration changes a soldier is exposed to in the event of a exposure to a blast. These external forces can result in traumatic brain injury (TBI), an often invisible injury that can cause a host of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral effects. DARPAs Blast Gauge is designed to provide medics with quantitative data to better identify those at risk of TBI so as to provide better treatment. While weve seen other devices, such as the Blast Badge, designed to indicate the strength of exposure to blasts, battlefield medical personnel still rely on visual signs and accounts from the patient when evaluating the risk of TBI. To investigate the potential for the Blast Gauge to provide medical personnel with a better way to assess the potential for blast-related injuries, DARPA last year began the first phase of pilot testing of the Blast Gauge with around 900 Army brigade-level soldiers in an active combat role. This gradually expanded to more than 6,400 warfighters in a variety of units across the U.S. Military using the device. DARPA is now entering phase … Continue reading →

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 30 (UPI) -- Israeli and U.S. researchers say existing diabetes medication may ease damage caused by traumatic brain injury. Professor Chaim Pick of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Dr. Nigel Greig of the National Institute of Aging in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues discovered Exendin-4, a diabetes drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, significantly minimizes damage in traumatic brain injury animal models when administered shortly after the initial incident. Originally designed to control sugar levels in the body, the drug has recently been found effective in protecting neurons in disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, the researchers said. Pick and colleagues Dr. Vardit Rubovitch, Lital Rachmany-Raber Shaul Schreiber and Dr. David Tweedie, said traumatic brain injury causes long-term damage by changing the chemistry of the brain. During an explosion, increased pressure followed by an intense vacuum shakes the fluid inside the brain and damages the brain's structure. The researchers exposed mice to controlled explosions from 23 and 33 feet away. The study, published in the journal Experimental Neurology, found the mice that had also received the Exendin-4 treatment were almost on a par with the control group in terms of brain function, … Continue reading →

NOKOMIS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Rainbow BioSciences, the biotech subsidiary of Rainbow Coral Corp. (RBCC), announced today that its latest joint venture target, Amarantus BioSciences, Inc. (AMBS), expects to announce the results of a preclinical study evaluating the potential of its new protein therapy as a treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The study, commissioned late last year, is a collaboration between Amarantus and Banyan Biomarkers, the leader in developing in vitro diagnostic products to detect TBI. The effects of TBI can be debilitating to athletes, combat veterans and others at risk of repetitive or serious head trauma. The recent death of NFL great Junior Seau, widely believed to be related to TBI, has focused a great deal of attention on the need for an effective treatment. RBCC believes that Amarantus is close to developing that cure. The company expects the test results, scheduled to be announced next week, to show that Amarantus new protein therapy, MANF, effectively reduces cell death associated with TBI. RBCC and Amarantus are currently wrapping up due diligence toward a potential joint venture agreement to develop and market MANF as a treatment for disorders associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress, including traumatic brain injury, Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers disease … Continue reading →