Tag: Drug

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — A major downside of the medical use of marijuana is the drug's ill effects on working memory, the ability to transiently hold and process information for reasoning, comprehension and learning.
Researchers reporting in the March 2 print issue of the Cell Press journal Cell provide new insight into the source of those memory lapses.
The answer comes as quite a surprise: Marijuana's major psychoactive ingredient (THC) impairs memory independently of its direct effects on neurons. The side effects stem instead from the drug's action on astroglia, passive support cells long believed to play second fiddle to active neurons.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2010) The King Cobra continues to weave its charm with researchers identifying a protein in its venom with the potential for new drug discovery and to advance understanding of disease mechanisms.


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ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2010) Biomedical scientists from the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University have identified a way to block a "cell death signal" that they believe triggers brain damage during strokes.

Strokes, also known as cerebral ischemia, are caused by inadequate blood flow to the brain and are the third-leading cause of death in the United States.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 20, 2009) Researchers have shown how an experimental drug might restore the function of nerves damaged in spinal cord injuries by preventing short circuits caused when tiny "potassium channels" in the fibers are exposed.

The chemical compound also might be developed as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2009) A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes -- also present in humans -- that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior.

This discovery, published in the October 2009 print issue of the journal Genetics, provides a crucial explanation of why some people seem to tolerate alcohol better than others, as well as a potential target for drugs aimed at preventing or eliminating alcoholism. In addition, this discovery sheds new light on many of the negative side effects of drinking, such as liver damage.

Drugs could be slipped into living cells using a light-sensitive capsule.

Targeted drug delivery is a hot topic of research. Scientists around the world are working on different ways to get drugs into specific cells without negatively impacting the rest of the body.

Sept. 15, 2009 -- As many as 30% of patients with hypertension fail to achieve their target blood pressures levels with treatment, but an experimental drug may help them hit their blood pressure goals.

In a newly reported study, patients whose blood pressure remained high despite very aggressive treatment had significant reductions in both the top (systolic) and bottom (diastolic) blood pressure numbers by adding the drug darusentan to the mix. more...

LONDON (Reuters) - A poor network of blood vessels may explain why some people with pancreatic cancer are often resistant to a common chemotherapy treatment, international researchers said on Thursday.

A study by Cancer Research UK found that pancreatic cancer can spread quickly to a tumor, despite a healthy blood supply, and gave evidence why conventional cancer treatments such as Eli Lilly and Co's Gemzar were often ineffective.

French scientists say they have found a drug that tricks the body into burning off fat even when on a high-fat diet.

The University of Louis Pasteur team found the drug protected mice against weight gain and insulin resistance.