Washington: A recent study has shown that cooling body temperature to levels consistent with hypothermia, improves survival when induced after cardiac arrest. It also promotes growth factors crucial for the brain's recovery, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have suggested.

Cardiac arrest, which leads to the sudden, abrupt loss of heart function, results in a quick death within minutes unless cardiopulmonary resuscitation and rapid defibrillation is available. As cardiac arrest progresses, blood flow to the brain ceases. If a patient survives long enough to make it to the hospital, the patient often will be in a coma and at risk of permanent brain injury.

As a matter of fact, less than 10 per cent of patients make it through the chain-of-survival and this research was carried out primarily to find out if hypothermia treatment played a role in survival from cardiac arrest and brain recovery, reported 'New Scientist'.

However, many researchers have speculated that cooling the brain would slow down harmful progression after injury. But new studies suggest that cooling the brain may actually stimulate brain recovery.

"Although it is known from clinical studies that cooling the brain offers therapeutic benefits to patients, further studies need to be done to determine how much the brain should be cooled and for how long," said Clifton Callaway, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Based on this research, Callaway and his team are already beginning the routine cooling of cardiac arrest patients who are brought to the emergency department at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

ANI