People with alcohol in their blood are less likely to die from head injuries, finds study
People with alcohol in their blood are less likely to die from head injuries, finds studyA dose of alcohol may be a good treatment for people with head injuries, emergency doctors suggest.
Their basis for this is the discovery that people appear less likely to die following brain trauma if they have alcohol in their bloodstream.
It could be that alcohol dampens the body's inflammatory response to injury, the study team suggests in the Archives of Surgery.
But they stressed that alcohol can cause medical complications and is contributory to many accidents.
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Life-Saver? A woman digs into her beer and dumplings at Oktoberfest in Munich. |
Experts cautioned people should not interpret the findings as an excuse to drink more alcohol.
The amount of alcohol consumed appears to be important too little and there is no effect, too much and the beneficial effects are lost, studies on animals suggest.
Experts believe the right dose of alcohol, however, stops the cascade of swelling, inflammation and further destruction of brain cells, known as secondary brain injury.
Like past research, Dr Ali Salim and his colleagues from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, found head injury patients who had drunk were significantly less likely to die than those who had not had any alcohol.
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They also tended to be younger and have less severe injuries.
