Nicotine Compound Safely Boosts Memory, Protects Brain [View All]

Nicotine Compound Safely Boosts Memory, Protects Brain

A nicotine metabolite that improves memory, protects brain cells from disease and could treat psychotic disorders does it all without the addictive properties of nicotine.

Researcher Jerry Buccafusco and colleagues from the Medical College of Georgia Alzheimer's Research Center say that the metabolite, cotinine, is not the inactive compound that many believed it to be.

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"Our drug cotinine was nearly as effective as a standard clinically used anti-schizophrenic drug in reversing this response," Buccafusco says. "This finding holds tremendous promise for patients suffering from schizophrenia since the drugs currently in use are oftentimes associated with severe, long-term neurological side effects, such as Parkinsonian-like tremors and memory problems."

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http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-11-13-4