hibernation on ground squirrels will help preservation of donor organs

in #animal7 years ago

Who would have thought, recent research reveals that stroke patients avoid brain damage.
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A US researcher found that when squirrels hibernate, protective processes occur in squirrel cells that allow them to reduce blood flow and oxygen. When they wake up, squirrels do not lack essential nutrients.

In patients with ischemic strokes (strokes caused by blood vessel branches in the brain blocked by cholesterol and free radicals, red), blood carrying sugar and oxygen are cut off in the brain. As a result, people with stroke can be difficult to talk until paralyzed.


**Some animals have a great way to deal with unfriendly winters. They do hibernation.** ![image]()
![image]() Throughout the season they sleep, lowering their body temperature to near freezing (zero degrees Celsius) and dramatically reducing their heart rate.

The question of how these animals do hibernation has long attracted the interest of researchers. Now, a study is trying to uncover the secrets behind the process to help medical advancement.

Knowing how an animal cell while hibernating can adapt to cold temperatures can help researchers extend the lifespan of the storage of human donor organs awaiting transplantation.

In addition, these findings also help researchers improve induced hypothermia therapy, where a person's body temperature is deliberately lowered after a heart attack or brain injury.

Hypothermia therapy can help protect the patient's brain, unfortunately has side effects of cell damage caused by cold temperatures.