Progesterone Improves the Outlook after Brain Injury

Brain injuries, such as those caused by traffic accidents or falls, are a major cause of death or disability. Based on the results of animal experiments, it was proposed that administration of progesterone, a female hormone, could improve the outcome in such cases. Chinese researchers have conducted a clinical study and reported their results in Critical Care, an online peer-reviewed medical journal.

The 159 patients, who were within 8 hours of their injury, were allocated to receive either progesterone (1 mg/kg body weight by intramuscular injection, twice daily for 5 days) or placebo injections. Overall, there were 40 deaths, 28 of which (70%) occurred in the first week after injury.

The mortality rate at 6 months was 18% in the progesterone group vs. 32% in the placebo group. A measure of functional independence made at 6 months showed that the progesterone-treated patients had significantly better scores than the placebo patients.

A similar study, but more short-term, has been reported from Emory University in the USA . Taken together, these two studies suggest that progesterone has a real benefit in traumatic head injury. As expected, however, a much larger study (over 1,000 patients) is being planned, and must provide positive results before the treatment can be widely recommended.