FYI: Cannabis may help prevent Alzheimer's memory loss

[Henk Elegeert]

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1424013,00.html
Guardian Unlimited | Life | Cannabis may help prevent
Alzheimer's memory loss

"
Cannabis may help prevent Alzheimer's memory loss

Ben Sills in Madrid and Ian Sample
Thursday February 24, 2005

Guardian
Scientists at one of Spain's leading research centres
claimed yesterday to have found evidence that cannabis helps
prevent the memory loss experienced by people suffering from
Alzheimer's.

The potential breakthrough in understanding a disease that
affects nearly half a million people in Britain, and around
nine million worldwide, was made by a team led by María de
Ceballos at the Cajal Institute in Madrid.

Their study seems to show that THC, the main active
ingredient in cannabis, inhibits the activity of cells that
cause damage to neurons in the brain.

Although the study is preliminary, it was welcomed by
patient groups.

"Right now, there are no good drugs for Alzheimer's. There
are some that treat symptoms but nothing that halts the
disease," said Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the
Alzheimer's Society.

While the beneficial effects of cannabis looked promising,
Dr Sorensen cautioned that people with Alzheimer's should
not start using the drug to help their memories, because of
side effects.

Memory loss in Alzheimer's patients is not fully understood,
but part of the problem is thought to lie with cells called
microglia that surround neurons in the brain. In
Alzheimer's, the activity of microglia gets out of control,
damaging neurons and killing off parts of the brain. Dr de
Ceballos's team conducted two separate experiments using
human brain tissue and rats which showed that THC inhibits
the activity of microglia, thus reducing memory loss.

Dr de Ceballos said the results showed that THC could help
prevent memory loss in Alzheimer's patients, although the
reasons why this might happen are still to be explored.

The next stage, she said, would be to test the rats using a
synthetic equivalent of THC which inhibits the activity of
microglia without intoxicating the rats as well.

"There's a long way to go before we will know if it is
actually possible to stop the progression of Alzheimer's,"
she said.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
"

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