The concept of Nanomedicine is the most recent topic that is going around all over the internet. We are in the technology world and there are advances in the field of medicine and science. Nanomedicine is said to impact the future of medicine and it’s nothing but using nanotechnology. Currently, researchers from various fields are working to evolve nanomaterial-based delivery systems for contrast agents, gene therapies, and drugs.
Let’s get deeper into the topic of Nanomedicine
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What is nanomedicine?
The definition of nanomedicine is hugely discussable. It’s a common method that uses nanoparticles in drugs to enhance the effectiveness of the medicine. It is said that this billion-times smaller drug has saved millions of lives and the medicine aims to diagnose, treat, and monitor human disease with enhanced efficacy and notable specificity. Nanomedicine can also respond to light by changing its properties and structure.
It is said that the researchers are exploring the use of the medicine for immunotherapy, which is a new part. Chemotherapy aims to kill cancer by offering the patients as much of the drugs needed. As a result, the whole body gets this high number of drugs, which can cause side effects to the patients. But nanomedicine offers a strategy to deliver immunotherapy or anti–cancer drugs in a more targeted manner while avoiding the healthy tissues. This eventually helps lower the side effects.
Nanomedicine is also designed to interact with the patient’s immune system and to boost its function or to fight against cancer. Think of a LEGO set, you choose individual pieces to build a complex structure that can be worked as a specific model. Nanoengineering is the same; you choose the starting material, which is a polymer or lipid, and craft medicine in a way that can do tasks like activating immune cells.
Benefits of using Nanomedicine
Nanomedicine is all about drug–delivery systems. Conventional drugs can cause absorption difficulties which might impact the action and efficacy of the drug. It can also mean that a large amount of the drug should be controlled to attain the needed clinical effect, which might provoke the drug’s negative side effects. It is said that more than 50 nanomedicines in randomized clinical trials have entered the practice, and a greater number of drugs are now under clinical investigation for a wide range of indications.
This technology has been used to enhance the absorbability of drugs; with the help of nanoparticles, the bioavailability can be strengthened because of its large surface–area–to–volume ratio.
The medicine is also used for drugs that can be absorbed too quickly and be taken out of the body as waste before treatment can be effectual. Oncology has benefited from it and it aims on the cancerous cells to avoid damage to the surrounding healthy cells. This fortifies drug targets as nanoparticles that are built to bind specific targets on cancer cells.
Advantages and Disadvantages of nanomedicine
Advantages of nanomedicine
- Precision Medicine
- Early diagnosis
- Regenerative medicine
- Improved drug delivery
- Targeted therapy
Disadvantages of Nanomedicine
- Cost
- Toxicity
- Limited knowledge
- Strict regulatory approval
Nanomedicine used for diseases
Nanomedicine has been approved for various diseases;
- Leaky Blood Vessels – Nanomedicine is also said to help with leaky blood vessels. A common feature of solid tumors is leaky blood vessels the medicine is said to accumulate in tissue which are then retained which results in effective lymphatic drainage.
- Cancer – Nanomedicines are used to treat various types of cancer. The particles can be used to deliver chemotherapy drugs while reducing the damage to healthy cells.
- Infection and eye problems – The medicine can help detect infection and works as antibiotics. For eye issues these medicines are coated on contact lenses to treat eye–related issues.
- Menopause – Hormone replacement therapy is said to relieve menopause symptoms. Offering medicines through skin can be effective and when hormones are delivered through these medicines, they have fewer side effects like blisters and rashes.
Who invented Nanomedicine?
Nanomedicine is said to be tracked back in ancient times. This revolutionary technology was tried on Phagocytosis by modern pioneers in nanomedicine and a Nobel Prize winner for Medicine in 1908 by Metchnikov and Ehrlich. You now know the answer for Who invented Nanomedicine and the use of nanotechnology for medical purposes is called nanomedicine.
History of Nanomedicine
The history of nanomedicine shows remarkable progress made along with nanotechnology and medicine. The production and use of nanomedicine have been followed in various ways in ancient times, the new science is said to be derived from the development of a wide range of ultramicroscopic devices back in the 20th century. The nanotechnology approach was first framed by Richard P. Feyman in the 50’s. This led to the constitutive force to find nanomedicine.
Examples of nanomedicine
Some specific ways Nanomedicine has been recently are;
- Covid – 19 Vaccines
- Chemotherapies
- MRI’s
- Medical devices like Stents and pacemakers
- Biomarker detection
Conclusion
Nanomedicines are ever–growing tiny medical technology that is said to bring a bright future to the health department! Now you know how to define nanomedicine, the history of nanomedicine, and who invented nanomedicine. Overall, it’s a next–era drug innovation!
