What can hydrocortisone do for persons with brain injuries?

The French have conducted several researches related to pneumonia and steroids. According to the results of their studies, those who have brain injuries may avoid complications related to pneumonia, if they are cured with the steroid hydrocortisone. These recent researches have manifested certain positive effects of steroids for clinical needs.
Pneumonia that is caused by traumatic brain injury is a serious illness. Unfortunately, it occurs frequently. The Journal of the American Medical Association has noticed that the percentage of pneumonia that appears because of traumas is 40-60 %. It is more spread among persons who have experienced brain injuries.
Early post-traumatic pneumonia requires serious medical care and hospitalization. The risk of death is enhanced. Undoubtedly, prevention of this condition is clinical and economic problem.
Dr. Antoine Roquilly of the University of Nantes in France has reported that experimental and clinical data have shown that application of corticosteroids can lower the occurrence as well as severity of pneumonia.
A research related to this condition was conducted 3 years from 2006 to 2009. 150 individuals that had different types of serious brain injuries were cured with the corticosteroid hydrocortisone. Other patients with this condition were treated only with sugar pills. More than half of persons that were cured with sugar pills began to experience pneumonia over the month. As for those who were treated with the steroid hydrocortisone, the results were better. Less than 36 % of them got pneumonia during the same period of time. Thus, they didn’t need to be ventilated mechanically. Moreover, they prevented respiratory problems which troubled the persons that were cured with sugar pills.
Dr. Lisandro Irizarry of the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City has noticed that the study is interesting but it requires further studies in order to be claimed a part of usual treatment.
 Actually, any individual that has suffered from a brain injury may confront the problem, when he/she doesn’t have ability to engage in normal oral hygiene and routine expectorating of mucus. It can lead to great amounts of bacteria. It enhances the risk of pneumonia. So, when a body experiences such stress, as a trauma, several hormones, including hydrocortisone, must be involved in healing. But this process may be blocked by trauma. That’s why such person needs an external supplement of steroids for a short period of time to increase healing responses of the body.
Although these researches have proven usefulness of the steroid hydrocortisone for persons with brain injuries, some more studies have to be conducted. It manifests that steroids have ability to save lives of people in some situations.