Brain-Injury Deaths Lower Among Alcohol Users

Survival rates are higher among brain-injury patients who had alcohol in their bloodstream when they got hurt, according to a new study which found that drinkers spent less time on ventilators or in the intensive-care unit than victims who did not drink before their injury.

HealthDay News reported Sept. 25 that researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles said that while brain-injury victims who tested positive for alcohol had more complications — possibly because of preexisting health problem brought on by alcohol abuse or addiction — on average they also had a lower death rate once they reached a hospital: 7.7 percent compared to 9.7 percent for nondrinkers.

Researchers speculated that alcohol suppresses catecholamines — hormones like adrenaline that can exacerbate brain injuries. They said the findings raise “the intriguing possibility that administering ethanol [alcohol] to patients with brain injuries may improve outcome,” although other experts cautioned that more study is needed and that the findings should not obscure the many negative health impacts of alcohol use.

The study, which involved 38,000 brain-injury victims, was published in the September 2009 issue of the Archives of Surgery.