Posted on 10/07/2006 9:24:11 AM PDT by cryptical
THC, the key compound in marijuana, may also be the key to new drugs for Alzheimer's disease.
That's because the marijuana compound blocks the formation of brain-clogging Alzheimer's plaques better than current Alzheimer's drugs.
The finding — in test-tube studies — comes from the lab of Kim Janda, Ph.D., director of the Worm Institute of Research and Medicine at Scripps Research Institute.
"While we are certainly not advocating the use of illegal drugs, these findings offer convincing evidence that THC possesses remarkable inhibitory qualities, especially when compared to [Alzheimer's drugs] currently available to patients," Janda says in a news release.
"Although our study is far from final, it does show that there is a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism through which THC may directly affect the progression of Alzheimer's disease."
Janda's team found that THC blocks an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase, which speeds the formation of amyloid plaque in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.
The Alzheimer's drugs Aricept and Cognex work by blocking acetylcholinesterase. When tested at double the concentration of THC, Aricept blocked plaque formation only 22 percent as well as THC, and Cognex blocked plaque formation only 7 percent as well as THC.
"THC and its analogs may provide an improved [treatment for] both the symptoms and progression of Alzheimer's disease," the researchers conclude.
The findings appear in the Aug. 9 online edition of the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics, a publication of the American Chemical Society.
And alot of students at San Francisco State will be walking funny................
If some chemical compound found in gasoline cured acid reflux, would the headline read, "Drinking gasoline cures acid reflux"?
"Las Vegas -- An initiative to legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana in Nevada might go up in smoke, after organizers forgot to file 6,000 petition signatures in southern Nevada."
-- Associated Press, June 24, 2004
I'd guess that CBS News has an ombudsman that will take your complaint.
MSM fan?
Miss the point much? If he wants to complain about the headline, he can complain to the place that wrote it.
More godless socialist reductionist spew! It is not an herb they studied but a chemical compound? Yeah? One created by God and given to man! Receptors for that compound exist in your mind. Maybe you can design a new chemical compound to remove the receptors or block them so that nobody can alter their mind in a way you deem inappropriate.
MSM defenders such as yourself hate it when misstatements of facts are exposed. That's what happened, your disingenuous euphemisms notwithstanding.
Yeah.
If you're going to lie about robertpaulsen, at least have the decency to ping him.
I don't think "disingenuous" or "euphemism" mean what you think they do, but thanks for playing.
Thanks for losing, albeit ungraciously.
and, whoa, you've got, like, the munchies all the time dude!
They are in Mississippi.
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