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Marijuana May Prevent Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Disease

Scientists at one of Spain's leading research centres announced yesterday that they had found evidence that cannabis prevents the memory loss that occurs in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

A potential breakthrough in treating the disease, which affects almost half a million people in the UK and around nine million worldwide, has been made by a team led by Mara de Ceballos at the institute in Madrid.

Their research shows that tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of marijuana, inhibits the cell activity that causes damage to brain neurons.

Although this is only a preliminary study, it has been approved by the Alzheimer's Society.

"There are currently no good drugs for Alzheimer's disease. There are drugs that work symptomatically, but there is nothing that can stop the disease," says Susan Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer's Society.

While the beneficial effects of marijuana appear promising, Dr. Sorensen cautions people suffering from Alzheimer's disease against using marijuana because of the side effects.

The mechanism of memory loss in such patients is not fully understood, but the problem is believed to be partly related to glial macrophages (microglia), which form a membrane around the brain's nerve cells. In Alzheimer's, microglia activity gets out of control and damages neurons, destroying entire areas of the brain.

Dr. Ceballos' team conducted two separate experiments on human brain tissue and rats. The experiments showed that THC suppressed microglia activity, thereby preventing memory loss.

Dr Ceballos says the results show that THC prevents memory loss, although the reasons for this are not yet clear.

The next step, she says, will be experiments on rats using a synthetic THC substitute that will suppress glial macrophage activity without causing toxicity.

"We still have a lot to do before we know whether it is possible to stop Alzheimer's disease from progressing," she says.

The Guardian

© 1999-2005 InoPressa.ru
Translated on February 24, 2005

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