"Time is brain" – that is the rule of conduct for a stroke.  The faster the blood flow, and thus the oxygen supply in the brain, return to normal, the lesser the damages.

According to German Stroke Foundation estimates, about 250,000 citizens are affected every year. In addition to partial paralysis, stroke victims suffer from long term sensation, balance, perception disorders as well as visual and/or speech disorders.  Strokes are the third most common cause of death after cancer and heart disease and the most common cause for disability. Despite this, treatments are often inadequate and acute care is often too late.

Treatment with female sex hormones should help: "Hormones not only govern our organ development and the function of reproductive organs, rather they can protect brain tissue and stimulate damaged parts to regenerate," says Dr. Cordian Beyer of RWTH Aachen University Hospital. The professor of neuroanatomy is investigating the function of sex hormones in the brain.

He explains: During a stroke, the brain either does not receive enough oxygen or blood leaks from vessels into the brain tissue.  Doctors denote the blockage of blood vessels as a stroke, the start of a brain bleed.  Blood clots are either washed from the vessels by the blood stream, as in embolisms, or they build up directly in a vessel, like in a thrombosis.  Within a few hours, the cells abruptly die from lack of oxygen and nutrients.  Nerve tissue is permanently damaged, and important functions cannot be restored.

At RWTH, animal studies with rats have reduced the effects of stroke by 70% through hormone treatments.  "Defense cells in the brain, microgliocytes, play an important role," says Beyer.  Together with immunocompetent cells from blood vessels, the defense cells assume an important role during a stroke, and guide the inflammatory processes in the brain tissue.  The administered hormones inhibit the defense cells and make sure that the damaged nerve cells can better survive.  The greatest effect is attainable though a special combination of progesterone and estrogen.  Clinical studies with stroke patients will show in the coming years, how effective these observations are for humans.

Placenta Delivers Protection and Function Control
The human body has different hormone producers.  Progesterone and estrogen are female sex hormones that are regularly present in especially high amounts during certain phases of menstruation and during pregnancy. At those times, hormone levels multiply to much higher amounts.  "The female body, as well as the embryo in the uterus, is downright flooded with hormones." says Beyer, "The implantation of the fertilized egg and its maturation are thus made possible, and milk production is prepared." He adds: "Today, experts are fairly positive, that women with multiple sclerosis experience less attacks during pregnancy. The higher hormone levels from the pregnancy are responsible for this.  Hormones possess an important protective function for this neurological disease."

In the last three months of pregnancy, female sex hormones facilitate the maturation of certain organs in the embryo.  Beyer and colleagues from the pediatric unit of Ulm University have determined that extremely premature babies often suffer from developmental disorders and illness, as a result of inadequate amounts of hormones in the placenta.  Above all, the airways and brain development are affected. In animals and a pilot study with humans, these disorders were lessened through targeted hormone treatments.

Further Information and Contact
Univ.-Prof. Dr. hum. biol. Cordian Beyer
Director of the Institute of Neuroanatomy
University Hospital Aachen
Wendlingweg 2
52074 Aachen
Tel: +49 241 80-89100 (80-89101)
cbeyer@ukaachen.de