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   Marijuana's Key Ingredient Might Fight Alzheimer's   
   By Charles Q. Choi   
   Special to LiveScience   
   posted: 05 October 2006   
   10:04 am ET   
   	   
      
   The active ingredient of marijuana could be considerably better at   
   suppressing the abnormal clumping of malformed proteins that is a   
   hallmark of Alzheimer's than any currently approved drugs prescribed   
   for the treatment of the disease.   
      
   Scientists report the finding in the Oct. 2 issue of the journal   
   Molecular Pharmaceutics.   
      
   About 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's disease, which   
   gradually destroys memory. As more people survive into old age, cases   
   of Alzheimer’s disease are expected to triple over the next 50 years.   
   There is no known cure.   
      
   The researchers looked at THC, the compound inside marijuana   
   responsible for its action on the brain. Computer models suggested THC   
   might inhibit an enzyme with the tongue-twisting name of   
   acetylcholinesterase (also called AChE) that is linked with   
   Alzheimer's.   
      
   AChE is known to help accelerate the formation of abnormal protein   
   clumps in the brain known as amyloid plaques during Alzheimer's. This   
   enzyme also helps break down the brain chemical acetylcholine, which   
   is linked to memory and learning. Acetylcholine levels are reduced   
   during Alzheimer's.   
      
   In lab experiments, the scientists found THC was significantly better   
   at disrupting the abnormal clumping of malformed proteins. THC could   
   completely prevent AChE from forming amyloid plaques, while two drugs   
   approved for use against Alzheimer's, donepezil and tacrine, reduced   
   clumping by only 22 and 7 percent, respectively, at twice the   
   concentration of THC used in the tests.   
   http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/061005_alzheimers_marijuana.html   
      
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