14 DAY TRIAL // British researchers at the University of Manchester say they've developed a drug that significantly reduces the amount of brain damage caused in patients by stroke. Doctors have been calling for such a substance to be produced for several decades.
Called Anakinra (IL-1Ra), the drug is already in use for treating rheumatoid arthritis, say professor Dame Nancy Rothwell and professor Stuart Allan, who've been studying stroke for about two decades.
“This is the first time that we are aware of a potential new treatment for stroke being tested in animals with the same sort of diseases and risk factors that most patients have. The results are very promising and we hope to undertake further clinical studies in stroke patients soon,” Rothwell explains.
Stroke is a severe condition that causes permanent neural damage. Patients oftentimes remain paralyzed, and their quality of life decreases substantially, EurekAlert reports.