SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY

How to Get Drugs Into the Brain

from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)

With tactics that range from subterfuge to ultrasound beams, scientists are searching for a solution to one of medicine's most intractable problems: how to get drugs into the brain.

Standing in the way is the blood-brain barrier, a formidable defense system that keeps out pathogens and toxins but also bars many potential therapies from reaching the seat of maladies such as brain cancer or Alzheimer's disease.

"The system is supposed to protect us from substances that could be noxious to the brain. Unfortunately, it is also quite efficient in removing various drugs that can actually help in curing certain diseases," said Adam Chodobski, a professor of emergency medicine at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University, who studies the blood-brain barrier.