The Problem
Brain trauma can be classified either as severe (comatose patients) or traumatic (head injuries without the loss of consciousness).  In both cases, the brain damage causes ongoing neuroinflammation.  The survival chances of those with severe brain trauma are limited.

On the other hand, those suffering with traumatic brain trauma often have lifetime complications due to chronic low-level neuroinflammation caused by the injury.  Unless the inflammation is stopped and the injury’s resolution quickly begins, the inflammatory damage spreads to nearby nerve cells to compromise their activity.  As time progresses, neurological dysfunction in the person becomes more apparent, leading to an inability to control emotions. 

The Traditional Medical Approach
There has been minimal advancement in brain trauma treatment except for rest and psychological counseling. Neither represents an advanced therapy in reducing the neuroinflammation generated by brain trauma.

The Metabolic Engineering® Approach
Metabolic Engineering® can decrease this spread of neuroinflammation by activating AMPK in the brain.  Using the Zone diet component of Metabolic Engineering® to restrict calories without hunger or fatigue is the most powerful dietary approach for increasing AMPK activity.  The omega-3 fatty acid dietary component of Metabolic Engineering® reduces neuroinflammation and promotes its resolution.  Finally, the polyphenol dietary component of Metabolic Engineering® reduces oxidative stress that drives neuroinflammation.  Equally important is that the omega-3 fatty acid and polyphenol components of Metabolic Engineering™ are also indirect activators of AMPK activity.   Thus, combining all three dietary interventions in Metabolic Engineering™ provides the optimal dietary approach to maximizing AMPK activity to reduce neuroinflammation. 

It has been shown that the immediate use of high-dose omega-3 fatty acids after severe brain trauma can significantly improve clinical outcomes in patients with severe brain trauma if the supplementation is started after the injury (1, 2).  Pre-treatment with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids dramatically reduces the neurological damage caused by head injury in animal models of TBI (3).

Thus, using the full spectrum of dietary interventions that comprise Metabolic Engineering™, may significantly speed up the repair rate of damaged brain tissue (4, 5). It also suggests that following Metabolic Engineering® may serve as a prophylactic dietary approach to reduce the severity of any potential cause of brain trauma,

References
1. Roberts L, Bailes J, Dedhia H, Zikos A, Singh A, McDowell D, Failinger C, Biundo R, Petrick J, Carpenter J. Surviving a mine explosion.  J Am Coll Surg. 2008;  207:276-83. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2008.02.015.

2. Bailes JE, Abusuwwa R, Arshad M, Chowdhry SA, Schleicher D, Hempeck N, Gandhi YN, Jaffa Z, Bokhari F, Karahalios D, Barkley J, Patel V, Sears B. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in severe brain trauma: Case for a large multicenter trial.  J Neurosurg. 2020:1-5. doi: 10.3171/2020.3.JNS20183.

3. Mills JD, Bailes JE, Sedney CL, Hutchins H, Sears B.J   Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and reduction of traumatic axonal injury in a rodent head injury model.  2011; 114:77-84. doi: 10.3171/2010.5.JNS08914. 

4. Sears B, Perry M, Saha AK. Dietary technologies to optimize healing from injury-induced inflammation.   Antiinflamm Antiallergy Agents Med Chem. 2021; 20:123-131. doi: 10.2174/1871523019666200512114210.

5. Sears B and Saha AK. Dietary control of inflammation and resolution.Front Nutr. 2021;8: 709435. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.709435.

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