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US: Marijuana's active ingredient may actually improve memory
James Heggen, Iowa State Daily The State Hornet
Thursday 12 Oct 2006 (AMES, Iowa) - It seems sacrificing your memory now could lead to saving it in the future. A new study, published in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics by researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California has found that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The link between marijuana and Alzheimer's disease lies in the active ingredient, said Dr. Robert Bender, geriatrician at the Johnny Orr Memory Center and Healthy Living Institute, who specializes in diseases of old age with an interest in memory disorder. "What various studies around the world are starting to show is that the basic ingredient in marijuana, the cannabis, may actually increase the level of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which we need to form new memories," Bender said. "It also may block the formation of something called amyloid plaques." Amyloid plaques are very common in the brains affected by Alzheimer's disease and may be a key to why patients develop the disease, Bender said. Plaques result when the brain cannot breakdown amyloid normally. The resulting build-up of plaques impair brain function and nerve transmission. He also said researchers have found that the cannabis may decrease inflammation in the brain of patients who have Alzheimer's disease. "Inflammation is something that results from whatever is going on in the brain to lead to Alzheimer's disease and there is some feeling that if we can decrease the inflammation, the process may be slowed down, that is the process of deterioration that patients experience," he said. In Bender's opinion, since this research doesn't get at the cause of Alzheimer's, it will probably lead to a treatment, rather than a cure. "Even in the most optimistic view, it probably will not be a cure. It may be something that leads us to develop another way of slowing the progress down," he said. If you're wondering how the active ingredient in marijuana promotes memory, but you still can't remember where you put your keys, Bender has some insight. "It's probably because of, as far as I can tell, the sedating effect of the drug, the way that people take it. When you're sedated, you're not alert and when you're not alert, you don't remember things as well," Bender said. For those of you on your way to go smoke some pot in the name of neurological health, Bender would suggest you put down the bong. "We certainly would never recommend that people smoke marijuana to prevent Alzheimer's disease," Bender said. Smoking marijuana will not be the solution for treatment of Alzheimer's disease in Bender's opinion. What he expects is that there will be much work to refine and isolate chemicals in order to get the positive effects without the intoxicating side effects. "The cannabinoid that is in marijuana will probably have to be refined and people would have to find ways to make sure that the side effects don't outweigh the potential benefits," he said. "I feel confident that we will not be prescribing for people to smoke marijuana, but it may be that they can isolate chemicals, perhaps alter them a little bit that are in marijuana and eventually use them therapeutically." This study will lead to more research in trying to harness the active ingredient in marijuana in a medication form rather than medical marijuana use, said Rep. James Kurtenbach, R-Nevada. "What I would expect to happen is if the active ingredient that impacts marijuana can be isolated that can be used in a form such as a tablet or pill or chemical injection then the research would try to harness that active ingredient," he said. Kurtenbach does not believe public support for the use of marijuana medically will not change either. "Alzheimer's is an extremely terrible disease," he said. "Any medication that will less the impact or delay the impact of Alzheimer's will drive public support towards increased funding, however I don't believe that it would drive public support simply for licensing for medical marijuana." Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said there have been other medicinal uses of marijuana, and this may shift the way marijuana is used and viewed in society. "I know people have seen the benefits of using marijuana for these purposes, have really struggled to get approval for that from the FDA," she said. "It's always been a big struggle because of the negatives that surround marijuana, but this is a big study, a big step in an interesting direction." From what Wessel-Kroeschell read, she believed more research needs to take place and stressed that this type of medicine should always be monitored by a doctor. Wessel-Kroeschell said she felt the new findings could add fresh support to the pro-marijuana lobby. "I think that in families that have been seriously affected by [Alzheimer's], certainly any hope that's out there brings them out of the woodworks looking for support," she said. "It does have the potential to change the impression of the public." http://www.statehornet.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/10/12/452d4d15cb45f
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