Posted on 03/14/2008 10:45:46 AM PDT by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) The initial findings of a study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem show that a non-psychoactive component of cannabis, marijuana, may hold out hope for slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
The research, still at an early stage, indicates that memory loss, the first and primary symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, can be slowed down significantly in mice by cannabidiol.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, affects some 24.3 million people worldwide.
In the study conducted by Professor Raphael Mechoulam and a team led by Dr. Maria de Ceballos at the Cajal Institute in Madrid, Spain, mice were injected with a molecule found in the brain of humans suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and then treated for one week with cannabidiol. Following the treatment, their learning ability was assessed by measuring the length of time needed for them to find a hidden platform in a maze.
Those mice injected with cannabidiol successfully performed the task within 25-30 seconds, compared to mice in the control group who had not been treated with cannabidiol, who took almost double the amount of time, 45-50 seconds, to complete the task.
Mechoulam presented the findings this week at the Cannabis Medicines Symposium in London, hosted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and said that human trials will hopefully follow in the near future.
Although the findings look promising, Professor Mechoulam warned that Alzheimer’s patients should not use cannabis itself because THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, could have the opposite effect and have damaging effects on the memory.
Mechoulam was the first scientist to isolate the THC component of cannabis and later discovered the first endo-cannabinoid.
Dr. Clive Ballard, director of research for the UK Alzheimer’s Society, called for further research into the use of cannabis as a treatment option, saying, “We need robust clinical trials into the potential benefits of non-psychoactive components of cannabis. It is important for people to note that these treatments are not the same as recreational cannabis use, which can be potentially harmful.”
“Dave’s not here! I think I told him to get off my lawn, and he skedaddled”
I actually used to know this, but I seem to have forgot.
Would this non-psychoactive part be present in hemp? If so, then maybe the old-timers coud go back to smoking rope, like they did back in the good 'ole days.
Is it me or is Canabis the tree of life? That weed does everything from making clothes and paper to curing cancer and even gets you happy.
Well, it is cheap to grow, has many uses, and hard to tax. Sounds like something that needs to be illegal to me.
Mice were injected with a molecule from a brain from an Alzheimer’s patient? Are the scientists thinking it’s a prion disease now?
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