Rebecca Brachman: Pode un fármaco previr a depresión e o estrés postraumático?

Pode un fármaco previr a depresión e o estrés postraumático?

O camiño cara a un novo fármaco está empedrado con descubrimentos accidentais. Neste conto ben contado de como se produce a ciencia, a neurocientífica Rebecca Brachman comparte noticias dun tratamento innovador atopado de forma fortuíta que pode previr o desenvolvemento de trastornos mentais como a depresión ou o estrés postraumático. E agarda atento por un inesperado --e controvertido-- xiro.

Breakthroughs in medicine often start with accidental discoveries—like when tuberculosis patients given a new drug began 'dancing in the halls' and inadvertently revealed the first antidepressant. Today, more people are disabled by depression than by HIV/AIDS, malaria, diabetes, or war, yet treatments only suppress symptoms, never curing the illness. A surprising new finding shows that a single dose of a repurposed anesthetic, ketamine, can make mice resilient to stress for weeks, hinting at a future where mental illness could be prevented, not just treated. This 'paravaccine' effect could change how society thinks about protecting mental health, but cultural and economic biases stand in the way of progress.