Contrary to the common belief that smoking marijuana can destroy memory, the surprising findings from Ohio State University show that the drug may help ward off Alzheimer's disease (AD), a degenerative brain disorder.
According to Ohio State University scientists, daily puff of marijuana can help reduce memory loss in old age and fight Alzheimer’s. Chemical components of marijuana reduce inflammation and stimulate the formation of new brain cells, thereby enhancing memory, the scientists explained.
Development of a legal drug that contains certain properties similar to those in marijuana might help prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease, suggested the research.
Alzheimer’s is mainly a neurological disorder where a person slowly and progressively starts loosing his memory due to gradual loss of brain cells. It is the most common form of dementia (loss of intellectual ability) and is the fourth leading cause of deaths in adults, according to National Institute of Health (NIH). Though the exact cause of the disease remains unknown, chronic inflammation in the brain is believed to contribute to memory impairment.
Experts say the drug could be formulated that would resemble tetra-hydroannibol, or THC, the psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant, but would not share its capabilities of giving the user “high”.
“It’s not that everything immoral is good for the brain. It’s just that there are some substances that millions of people for thousands of years have used in billions of doses, and we’re noticing there’s a little signal above all the noise,” said Gary Wenk, professor of psychology at Ohio State and the lead author of the study.
Wenk added, “What we are saying is it appears that a safe, legal substance that mimics those important properties of marijuana can work on receptors in the brain to prevent memory impairments in ageing. So that’s really hopeful.”
In a test, Wenk’s team used the properties of a man-made drug based on THC on rat models to find out its positive effects on their mental skills. The researchers gave rats a constant dose of a cannabis derivative for three weeks, while control group did not get any intervention.
The researchers found that the treated rats improved their memory, easily finding their way round a water maze. To check their memory levels, the rats were placed in a small swimming pool to find a platform hidden under the surface of the water, the researchers found that the treated rats did better than the control rats in learning and remembering the technique to find the hidden platform.
Wenk and his team presented their findings to the Society for Neuroscience.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis sativa and is usually smoked as a cigarette, or in a pipe. Besides increasing the risk of heart disease, head and neck cancers, problems in the lungs and infection, marijuana use has also been associated with social behavior problems.
AD is a progressive brain disease that destroys patients' memories and capacity for speech. The disease is characterized by the development of unusual clumps of proteins called amyloid plaques and nerve cell tangles that hinder messages being processed by the brain.
According to latest statistics, there are about 24 million people with dementia worldwide, and it has been projected that by 2040, the number of people suffering from AD will increase to 81 million. Globally, there are about 60 percent people in the developing countries affected by Alzheimer’s and by 2040 this proportion will rise to 71 percent.
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