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Jim Hyland wrote:
>
> Stress may affect whether drugs reach brain
>
>  WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuter) - A drug used on Gulf War soldiers may have
> unexpectedly penetrated the brain, according to new research that raises
> provocative questions about the so-called ``blood-brain barrier.''
>
> The study adds to the growing literature on the chemical pyridostigmine,
> which was given to U.S. soldiers in the Gulf War as protection against
> chemical weapons. However the report by Israeli researchers is based on mice
> studies and does not purport to be a definitive solution to the mystery of
> Gulf War syndrome.
>
> The study by Dr. Alon Friedman and colleagues at Hebrew University and Tel
> Aviv University appears in December's edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
>
> Scientists have long believed that most drugs and chemicals cannot penetrate
> the blood-brain barrier to reach the central nervous system. This
> research suggests that stress may make the barrier permeable, according to
> Israel Hanin, a professor in the pharmacology department at
> Loyola University's Strich College of Medicine who wrote a commentary on the
> journal article.
>
> ``It might in fact be more permeable than we think, especially under
> conditions of stress,'' Hanin said.
>
> According to Hanin, the finding is less important for what it says about the
> Gulf War than about stress and the brain, which in turn could have
> implications for drug treatments of a variety of neurological diseases.
>
>  In theory at least, learning how and when to make the barrier permeable
> could eventually lead to ways of getting drugs into the brain to treat
>  problems like Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease.

Would a hard game of soccer induce enough stress (liberation of
adrenaline for sure...) to cause the increase in the brain permeability
and so a better absorption of the drug ?

I mention this because it seems to me that when I take levedopa before
playing soccer early in the morning I have a better absorption of it
during this day.Of curse other factors may be responsible for this
feeling.Anyway these observations are puzzling.

Best wishes,

--
   +----| Joao Paulo de Carvalho   |------ +
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   +--------| Salvador-Bahia-Brazil |------+