Old drugs just may provide new tricks.

• Position: Inflammation

Like a weapon wielded in battle, inflammation is the body's natural way of fighting off foreign invaders like viruses or bacteria but, when this weapon goes unchecked, the results can be debilitating. For example, chronic inflammation is the cause of rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and chronic ear infections, which in children may impact speech development.

Jian-Dong Li, director of the Center for Inflammation, Immunity and Infection at Georgia State University, Atlanta, always is searching for better ways to reduce the suffering associated with chronic inflammation, and now he thinks he has found one. A medication called Vinpocetine--used for decades in Europe and Japan to treat cerebrovascular disorders and to improve memory--can turn off the inflammation that can make life miserable.

"It will definitely help to improve the quality of life, and definitely attenuate the symptoms;' says Li. Better yet, the drug--based on chemicals found in the periwinkle plant--has fewer side effects than do steroids, the more common treatment. "Steroids are potent in their anti-inflammatory effects, but you can't use them for too long. If you do, you will cause serious side effects, like reduced immunity and liver damage."

Li's exploration into Vinpocetine employs a plan of attack called drug repositioning...