New Drug Stops Stroke Damage

A study has shown that a new drug has the ability to stop brain damage caused by stroke when administered to rats either before or within one hour after the onset of stroke symptoms. The study was published in the October 25, 2002, issue of Science.

Encouraged by this discovery, researchers are hopeful that with further investigation, this same drug will serve as an effective treatment for humans who experience a stroke. "The drug works by preventing the negative consequences of the overstimulation of the NMDA receptors in the brain that are involved in strokes. However, it doesn't block the normal important functions of these receptors, making this a possible practical stroke therapy,” said Dr. Michael Salter, co-principal investigator of the study, a senior scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children, and a professor of physiology at the University of Toronto (Canada; www.utoronto.ca).

The drug was developed by a team of scientists from the University of Toronto, the Hospital for Sick Children, and the University of British Columbia. The research was supported in part by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Stroke Network, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario.




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