POTHEADS SEND ALZHEIMER'S UP IN SMOKE

IT seems illogical, but the same compound that addles the brains of
marijuana users may help treat the symptoms and slow the onset of
Alzheimer's disease, the leading cause of dementia among elderly
people. In laboratory experiments, the compound,
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), preserved levels of a brain
chemical that declines in Alzheimer's, permitting the build-up of
brain-gumming "amyloid plaques".

The plaques are the hallmark of Alzheimer's and its dementia-inducing damage.

"Our results provide a mechanism whereby the THC molecule can
directly impact Alzheimer's disease pathology," researchers reported
in the US journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

The team - led by organic chemist Kim Janda of the Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla, California - claimed that THC holds real
promise as a "drug lead", a model for developing new and more
effective treatments for Alzheimer's.

Existing drugs such as donepezil, sold as Aricept in Australia,
inhibited an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase which broke down
acetylcholine, the brain chemical that prevents formation of amyloid plaques.

But THC not only acted against the enzyme, it also targeted plaque formation.

According to pathologist and Alzheimer's expert Colin Masters, the
findings were novel and unsuspected.

"It might be possible to reformulate or rebuild the THC molecule so
it has the anti-Alzheimer's effects without causing disturbances of
cognition - getting high or stoned," said Professor Masters, from the
University of Melbourne and the Mental Health Research Institute.

That's so because THC acts on one group of brain molecules when it
triggers a buzz and another when it fights brain-clogging plaques.