Anaemia Negatively Affects Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injuries

The same study should occur in stroke survivors but won't because we have NO stroke leadership or strategy to answer these simple questions. You're screwed and obviously no one cares enough to even attempt to solve all the problems in stroke.  It is pretty much; 'Fuck off and die'.
http://dgnews.docguide.com/anaemia-negatively-affects-recovery-traumatic-brain-injuries?
 Anaemia can negatively influence the outcomes of patients with traumatic brain injuries, according to a study presented at the recent 84th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and published in the journal World Neurosurgery.
“More research is needed to develop treatment protocols for anaemic patients with traumatic brain injuries,” said lead author N. Scott Litofsky, MD, Division of Neurological Surgery, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, Missouri. “Anaemia occurs when there is a shortage of red blood cells, which causes reduced oxygen flow to vital organs throughout the body. There has been a lack of consensus among physicians regarding the relationship of anaemia and traumatic brain injuries on a patient’s health. Because of this uncertainty, treatment protocols are unclear and inconsistent.”
“Our observational study found that a patient's outcome is worse when he or she is anaemic,” he said.
For the study, the researchers studied the outcomes of 939 patients with traumatic brain injuries with anaemia who were admitted to the Frank L. Mitchell Jr., MD Trauma Center -- a Level I trauma centre that is part of University of Missouri Health Care system. The researchers compared haemoglobin levels of these patients and their outcomes within 1 year of surgery.
Despite also having more severe head and systemic injuries, patients with lower levels of haemoglobin had poorer outcomes. For each increase in haemoglobin of 1 gram above 7 grams per decilitre of blood, the likelihood of a good outcome increased by 33%.
To restore a patient’s haemoglobin level, a patient can receive a blood transfusion, but stored blood may not perform as well as a patient's own blood, and patients may experience allergic reactions or viral infections as a result of the transfusion.
“The purpose of this study is not to propose transfusion guidelines, but rather to show that anaemia can be harmful to patients with traumatic brain injuries,” said Dr. Litofsky. “Now that we have shown that anaemia affects a patient’s recovery, further studies are needed to determine the best way to correct it. The ultimate goal of this research is to help patients recover more quickly from traumatic brain injuries.”
SOURCE: University of Missouri-Columbia