Does resveratrol heal damage from a concussion? This is the question researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas hope to answer. Five professional boxers are participating in the study which began in April. The boxers will be given an MRI and a cognitive test to determine the effectiveness of resveratrol. The researchers expect to release the results by December of this year – but are extremely optimistic.
According to Dr. Joshua Gatson, a researcher in the study: Resveratrol is a “very potent anti inflammatory in the brain and following injury, concussions in most of the athletes are not really treated with anything besides probably aspirin, light exercise and rest, so we decided to use a compound that can help improve or repair the brain at a faster rate."
What’s more, Dr. Gaston stated, "We came up with the idea to treat sports concussions with a compound that's relatively safe and can eliminate a lot of the secondary brain injury that you see following concussions."
Editor’s Note: Let’s hope the results are positive - there is good reason to expect they will be. Not only has resveratrol shown promise in treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but resveratrol has been shown to increase plasticity in the brain – that is, the ability of the brain to increase and alter neuronal connections (thereby overcoming brain injury). Further, adding to the optimism, resveratrol has been shown to pass the blood brain barrier – in other words, resveratrol, as a very small molecule, has shown that, in vivo, it can enter the brain when taken orally – not an easy or common task. As such, it can treat the brain whereas many compounds cannot.
