# US Department of Health and Human Services — Patents explained on PatentBrief

US Department of Health and Human Services has 2 landmark patents explained in plain English on PatentBrief.

- [Using Cannabinoids to Protect the Brain from Oxidative Stress](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/6630507/cannabinoids-as-antioxidants-and-neuroprotectants) — granted 2003
  A government-owned patent describing how certain non-psychoactive cannabinoids can act as antioxidants to protect brain cells from damage caused by strokes, trauma, or diseases like Alzheimer's.
- [How Special Sugars Make Medicines Dissolve Better](https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/4727064/azt-zidovudine) — granted 1988
  This patent describes how to make poorly water-soluble drugs dissolve and absorb better by mixing them with specially modified, non-crystalline sugar molecules called cyclodextrin derivatives.

**Full profile:** https://patentbrief.org/company/us-department-of-health-and-human-services

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_Source: PatentBrief — https://patentbrief.org. Plain-English explanations of US patents._