Study finds oxygen therapy limits radiation brain injuryRSS Feed

A new study has revealed hypoxia treatment can help limit the risk of brain injury when receiving radiation therapy for tumours.

William Sonntag of the University of Oklahoma led a team of researchers in a trial designed to find a way of protecting healthy brain tissue against cognitive impairment.

Mice were exposed to whole brain radiation, which resulted in them developing progressive deterioration of spatial learning.

However, those that were first treated with chronic hypoxia – where oxygen levels are limited – for three weeks, showed "significant improvement in this area".

The therapy was administered one month after radiation exposure and helped prevent a decline in learning and memory, with the symptoms appearing transient and having dissipated within three months.

Online journal PLoS One reported the study, which could be a significant finding for individuals facing radiation therapy for brain tumours.

The news comes after researchers at Lund University in Sweden recently discovered the first signs of Alzheimer's disease could occur as early as ten years before diagnosis.

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Posted by Timothy Walters

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