12-07-2004, 08:36 PM
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSu...67779.html
TORONTO -- Researchers have discovered a new class of "smart" drugs to treat drug addiction and autism, but with fewer side effects. The drugs, which target brain cells to repair and control psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and drug addiction, may be ready for clinical human trials in three years.
They represent the first significant change in medication used to treat psychiatric disorders in decades.
"We're designing a whole new generation of medications that will work only on brain cells that need to be repaired," Dr. Yu Tian Wang, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Psychiatric disorders are due to the disruption of communication between the messengers in the brain and the neurons.
When balance and communication between chemical messengers are disrupted, the flow of information among brain cells in certain areas becomes confused.
The result is impairments in perception, thought and behaviour seen in patients with brain disorders ranging from autism to major psychoses.
Existing anti-psychotic drugs affect communication on cell surfaces throughout the brain and target the messengers. Balance is restored in affected areas. However, the drugs may cause imbalance in normal, unaffected areas, leading to negative side effects.
Side effects can range from sluggishness, insomnia and anxiety to severe psychoses, and limit prolonged use of these medications.
"The new type of drugs will correct brain function in a targeted way only in the affected area of the brain and do not act on the messengers in the brain cells, so patients don't experience the side effects found in existing medications that affect the whole brain," Wang said.
Wang expects the drugs to be available in about five to 10 years.
Brain and nervous system disorders affect one in five Canadians and are among the leading causes of death and disability in Canada.
TORONTO -- Researchers have discovered a new class of "smart" drugs to treat drug addiction and autism, but with fewer side effects. The drugs, which target brain cells to repair and control psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and drug addiction, may be ready for clinical human trials in three years.
They represent the first significant change in medication used to treat psychiatric disorders in decades.
"We're designing a whole new generation of medications that will work only on brain cells that need to be repaired," Dr. Yu Tian Wang, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Psychiatric disorders are due to the disruption of communication between the messengers in the brain and the neurons.
When balance and communication between chemical messengers are disrupted, the flow of information among brain cells in certain areas becomes confused.
The result is impairments in perception, thought and behaviour seen in patients with brain disorders ranging from autism to major psychoses.
Existing anti-psychotic drugs affect communication on cell surfaces throughout the brain and target the messengers. Balance is restored in affected areas. However, the drugs may cause imbalance in normal, unaffected areas, leading to negative side effects.
Side effects can range from sluggishness, insomnia and anxiety to severe psychoses, and limit prolonged use of these medications.
"The new type of drugs will correct brain function in a targeted way only in the affected area of the brain and do not act on the messengers in the brain cells, so patients don't experience the side effects found in existing medications that affect the whole brain," Wang said.
Wang expects the drugs to be available in about five to 10 years.
Brain and nervous system disorders affect one in five Canadians and are among the leading causes of death and disability in Canada.