Philosophy and Addiction
Evelyn Brister, Robert Frodeman in A Guide to Field Philosophy, 2020
Recent studies in neuroscience have explored the relationship between brain chemistry and addiction. Addiction, these studies suggest, may be a consequence of a combination of genes and neurotransmitters. The move is to treat addiction as a chronic physical condition, one that needs regular monitoring and management, much like diabetes or asthma. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institute of Health of the United States, defines addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain—they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long-lasting, and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs.(National Institute on Drug Abuse 2018)
Diet-Related Cancers and Other Diseases
John J.B. Anderson, Marilyn C. Sparling in The Mediterranean Way of Eating, 2014
The risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been reported to be reduced by adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet. In addition, conversion of MCI to Alzheimer’s disease was found to be reduced. Besides Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, Parkinson’s disease has been reported to benefit from the consumption of a Mediterranean dietary pattern. Further investigations of these diseases are needed to clarify diet–brain disease relationships. The diets of Alzheimer’s patients may benefit from intakes of low energy and low amounts of animal fat, as well as greater intakes of fish and vegetable oils as well as a variety of plant-rich foods containing micronutrients and phytochemicals (i.e., the Mediterranean pattern of eating). In addition to a favorable intake of nutrients and phytochemicals from a Mediterranean diet in protecting against cognitive decline, dementia, and related conditions, positive lifestyle factors also seem to contribute to better health of these individuals.
Major contemporary challenges in global health
Kevin McCracken, David R. Phillips in Global Health, 2017
Strictly speaking, dementia is a condition or symptoms, rather than an illness (Box 7.17, Table 7.4, and see Alzheimer's Association, 2016a, pp. 6–7 for types of dementias and pp. 8–9 for symptoms and diagnosis). The symptoms involve progressive, irreversible loss of cognitive and intellectual ability caused by cerebral (brain) disease or damage. Dementia also tends to be used in everyday speech as a general term, possibly inaccurately, for the loss of memory and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Confusingly for family members and health professionals alike, genuine dementia can manifest itself in many ways, including as impaired cognitive functioning, impaired behaviour and personality changes in later stages. Most importantly, it is degenerative, although the speed and course vary considerably among individuals.
Moonshots and Other Metaphors: The BRAIN Initiative
Published in AJOB Neuroscience, 2020
My second word of caution stems from the unique nature of the BRAIN Initiative itself. Interestingly, the BRAIN Initiative’s overarching scientific endeavor is to understand how healthy brains function in each of these interest areas—that is, to “discover general brain mechanisms, not as a clinically-directed endeavor pointed at specific diseases and patients” (BRAIN 2025, 2014, 17). The main goal therefore is not specifically to investigate specific brain disorders, for which there are already disease-related NIH institutes and funding mechanisms to support, although mechanisms are often examined in the context of a specific brain disorder. Any increase in knowledge that could ameliorate the conditions of patients with brain diseases and injuries would be a welcome, but not a centrally focused, outcome: “While the primary goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to understand healthy brain function, we expect this work to provide an essential foundation for understanding neurological and psychiatric disorders” (BRAIN 2025, 2014, 17). This is a grand aim similar in many ways to the Human Genome Project. Like the Human Genome Project, the purpose of the BRAIN Initiative is to uncover what makes us similar and distinctive all at the same time, to understand ourselves.
Efficient antiglioblastoma therapy in mice through doxorubicin-loaded nanomicelles modified using a novel brain-targeted RVG-15 peptide
Published in Journal of Drug Targeting, 2021
Mingfeng Han, Haoyue Xing, Liqing Chen, Minhu Cui, Yingying Zhang, Lingling Qi, Mingji Jin, Yang Yang, Chunsheng Gao, Zhonggao Gao, Xuezhong Xing, Wei Huang
The brain is an important organ and a regulator of life functions [6]. There are numerous types of brain disease, many with complex pathogeneses, and most are difficult to treat owing to the existence of the BBB. The BBB consists of a barrier formed by the brain capillary wall and glial cells between plasma and brain cells and that formed through separation of the choroid plexus from the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid. These barriers can prevent most substances from entering the brain parenchyma from the blood, and thereby protect the brain from harmful substances and maintain local homeostasis. However, the BBB can also block the entry of most drugs into the brain, making it difficult for drugs to reach brain lesions. Some methods have been developed in an attempt to overcome the issue of BBB impermeability and allow sufficient drug entry into the brain to treat brain diseases; these include the temporary opening of the BBB by intra-arterial injection of hyperosmotic substances, the preparation of fat-soluble prodrugs from water-soluble drugs, active targeting molecule-mediated drug delivery into the brain, and physical approaches, including focussed ultrasound (FUS) [7].
Role of macrophage in nanomedicine-based disease treatment
Published in Drug Delivery, 2021
Siwei Song, Hui Xia, Mengfei Guo, Sufei Wang, Shujing Zhang, Pei Ma, Yang Jin
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive and severely disabling neurodegenerative movement disorder and the most common cause of Parkinsonian symptoms (Parkinsonism), characterized by tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity (De Pablo-Fernández et al., 2018). The need to develop neuroprotectants and control neuroinflammation for the protection of the brain against injury cannot be overstated. Similar to the case of malignant glioma, the BBB is a major obstacle to the delivery of therapeutic drugs for PD. Haney and coworkers forged the concept of macrophage delivery of protein antioxidants to attenuate neuroinflammation and nigrostriatal degeneration in PD. They successfully incorporated the redox enzyme catalase into a polyion complex micelle (‘nanozyme’), and used bone marrow-derived macrophages as carriers to deliver nanozymes to the lesion locations (Haney et al., 2011). Brain diseases, such as central nervous system (CNS) disorders and brain cancers, are some of the most prevalent, devastating, and yet poorly treated diseases. Macrophages, whether they participate in the development of diseases or can cross the BBB, are potentially effective for the treatment of disease. The pathways for drug delivery shown here may be used for the treatment of these brain diseases.
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