Sunday, May 4, 2014

Developing drugs to reduce brain impairment after stroke

Whom is going to write a request for proposal to researchers to solve this problem in humans? Dr. Jessup, Mr. Baranski? Isn't that exactly what a stroke association should be doing? Doesn't your board of directors have the best interests of stroke survivors at the top of the reasons for your organization existence?
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-03-drugs-brain-impairment.html
Current treatment for ischaemic , which results from a blood clot, aren't very effective. But research published by my colleagues and I today in the journal Nature Communications shows an emerging drug treatment is effective in mice and could one day reduce the neurological impact in people who've suffered an ischaemic stroke.
By 2020, the World Health Organization predicts that worldwide, the number of years lost to disability resulting from stroke will reach 61 million. The economic burden is similarly massive, costing Australia $49.3 billion a year. So finding better treatments is crucial.
Brain inflammation after stroke
Quick treatment is one way to enhance the prospect of recovering from a stroke.
If patients are treated within around three hours of the stroke, the stroke-inducing clots can be broken down relatively efficiently using a substance called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). This allows the blood to start flowing again, supplying the brain with the oxygen required to keep the tissue alive.
But after the clot is removed and blood starts flowing, the body produces an unwanted neuroimmune response. This occurs because the damaged brain tissue contains elevated levels of molecules known as proinflammatory cytokines, which regulate the body's response to infection, inflammation and trauma.
These cytokines are able to recruit many other immune cells to the area, leading to further .
Limiting the initial release of these cytokines should therefore help to decrease the excessive local inflammatory response, leading to a decrease in tissue damage and better patient outcomes.

More at link.

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