SCIENCE IN THE NEWS DAILY
How to Get Drugs Into the Brain
from the Boston Globe
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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.
Read more...
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