Study shows marijuana extract could slow Alzheimer's disease

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Marijuana compounds may slow memory loss linked with Alzheimer's disease.
Previous work has suggested that people who regularly smoked marijuana in the 1960s and 1970s are less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease in later life. Now a team at Ohio State University reports promising results in mice treated with a compound like one of the active ingredients of marijuana.

The mice had already received a substance that created brain inflammation similar to that found in Alzheimer's disease. The marijuana-based compound reduced this inflammation. It also improved the animals' performance in a maze test - which is a standard assessment of memory. The improvement was the most marked in older animals. It may be that further study of the chemistry of marijuana will increase the chances of finding a useful drug for the treatment of the memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Source
Society for Neuroscience meeting 18th October 2006

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