Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Conclusion


     Through this blog it was achieved the main objective of sharing articles and updates that relate in some way with pharmacology. The main purpose was to show the importance of this field and important applications that flow from it in our daily lives. This was achieved using technology as the primary medium, because without technology none of this would be possible. Today we live in a world where it is crucial to go in search of solutions to our illnesses and any other problems. We live in a society that keeps going and evolves through the changes that occur in all aspects, seeking to improve the quality of life of human beings.


     It is regrettable that many diseases remain today without treatment, with much pain and other severe effects that can cause death in many cases. As science has evolved looking to improve, scientists have committed errors which we regret today, like the emergence of new diseases as a result of malpractice. This is why we must focus on doing things right and handle any type of material we are using (drugs, chemicals, technology devices ...) with due caution and taking the required safety measures. This is essential for our life, being that a malpractice can put our lifes and others in danger. 

       I hope your navigation through my blog has served you as a news media to the uplift of some current developments and to reflect about the care that we must take when managing medication, whether we ingest them or work with them appropriately.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

"Nano" drug that prevents kidney toxicity

     The main problem of drugs taken orally is that their distribution can not be specific, that is, it flows through the system of the body through the bloodstream. Once a drug passes from the stomach into the intestines, it goes to the liver and then to the rest of the body through the bloodstream. This causes toxicity to the kidneys when ingested because the drugs slow down the kidney function, causing high levels of substances in the blood, that should be eliminated by the kidneys. To prevent kidney toxicity a "nano" drug that prevents the drug from reaching the kidneys was created.

     Researchers at the Complutense University of Madrid with other scientists have designed a "nano" drug to prevent kidney toxicity. This is possible because when ingested  it accumulates in the spleen, liver and lung. One of the authors of this research, Dolores R. Serrano, indicates that it is ideal to get the greatest possible amount of drug to the "target" organs to reduce this way the amount in places where it produce toxicity. The creation of the "nano" drug was achieved using nanoparticles GCPQ (˂250 nanometers). There are incorporated antifungal drug amphotericin B to these nanoparticles, which are used to treat certain conditions intravenously, being that orally it is toxic to other organs.

     An important advantage of this "nano" drug is preventing hospitalization and adverse effects caused by administering a drug intravenously. This is a very positive aspect, as there are patients who can not stand needles, just like hospitalization is also of little liking. This "nano" drug can be administered with any drug without affecting the kidneys, which is excellent news, because the kidneys have an important function in our body: eliminates toxic agents and recover the nutrients our body needs to regulate internal fluids.

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Friday, May 1, 2015

Drugs with the ability to regenerate neurons to reverse the damage of multiple sclerosis



What is multiple sclerosis?



Main  symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis


Normal nerve vs a damaged nerve by
Multiple Sclerosis
     It is a disease caused by a damage to the myelin sheath, which is a protective layer around the neurons of the brain and spinal cord. The damage of the sheath causes nerve impulses diminish or stop, causing loss of balance, muscle spasms, weakness, among other symptoms. This disease mainly affects women between 20 and 40 years old, but can be diagnosed at any age. The sheath is damaged when the body's own immune cells attack the nervous system, which means, cells attack themselves by treating natural antigens produced by the body as if they were strangers. 





Signal from brain in a normal neuron vs a damaged
myelin signal
Several United States institutions conducted research on 727 drugs to find the effect for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. They discovered that clobetasol and miconazole, which are used to treat athlete's foot and eczema, has the ability to regenerate damaged brain cells for multiple sclerosis in mice. Previously, they knew there existed stem cells in the nervous system that repair the damage caused by this disease. However, they did not know how to guide them. Paul Tesar, one of the main authors of the study, said that his focus was to find a drug that catalyze the body's own stem, thereby replacing damaged cells by multiple sclerosis cells. 





      With this study, coauthor Miller says that this finding represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis. It is expected from the patients to be checked through clinical trials. For now we have tested the effect of drugs on human stem cells and it has been seen a similar response in mice.
   It is unfortunate that there are not known definite causes for this disease, but its being said to be likely that those who have a family history of multiple sclerosis, or live somewhere where the disease is more common, are more prone to suffer from it. These drugs are expected to open their doors for the cure of multiple sclerosis, as currently there are only treatments that slow the progression of the disease.


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