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Smarter drug delivery system stores doses under your skin as crystals | Whether you have a deep-seated fear of needles (Trypanophobia) or simply aren't a fan of jabs, this drug delivery approach is good news
For many people, injection needles can be scary – and the larger ones for specialized longer-term medications are far more intimidating.
For this study, the researchers – who hail from Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – went with a contraceptive called levonorgestrel (LNG), which has molecules that are hydrophobic, i.e. they repel water. In fact, just a small quantity of it – less than 1.6% to be precise – helped alter the density of the depot, which in turn controlled the rate at which the drug molecules were released into the body. A method to deliver drugs over a longer period of time is not only useful for specific conditions like these, but can also be crucial for people in remote areas, who may only have sporadic access to medical care.
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