Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers at the University
of California San Francisco have discovered that chemicals found
in a Japanese flower and green tea leaves can prevent brain
cells from dying in stroke-like conditions. Doctor Raymond
Swanson, a neurology professor at the school, says that when
brain cells are damaged, they often over-exert themselves by
trying to repair their structure. Swanson: And of course under a
stroke situation, that is the problem. There's not enough energy
for the cells to live. And when that's compounded by a massive
effect of repairing DNA, it kills cells that might otherwise
live. Narrator: The new chemicals, Swanson says, prevent cells
from wasting much needed energy in the repair process -- and
that may prove vital in a life or death situation. Swanson: If
you have a dead cell in the brain, you can't do any worse than
that. So if you buy time, you may find yet other interventions,
which can make these cells live. If you buy time you may be able
to improve blood flow