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Turborama Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 04:50 AM
Original message
Marijuana Could Prevent Alzheimer's, New Study

Stephanie Webber

Issue date: 1/27/09


A puff a day might keep Alzheimer's away, according to marijuana research by professor Gary Wenk and associate professor Yannic Marchalant of the Ohio State Department of Psychology.

Wenk's studies show that a low dosage in the morning of a certain cannabinoid, a component in marijuana, reversed memory loss in older rats' brains. In his study, an experimental group of old rats received a dosage, and a control group of rats did not. The old rats that received the drugs performed better on memory tests, and the drug slowed and prevented brain cell death. However, marijuana had the reverse effect on young rats' brains, actually impairing mental ability.

Alzheimer's is a disease unique to humans and the memory loss in the rats was a natural decline, but rat brains are similar enough to human brains to serve as partial models for humans, Wenk said.

Research on marijuana as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease began because of the drug's success in slowing progression of multiple sclerosis and reducing patients' pain, Wenk said. Alzheimer's affects a similar part of the brain that MS does.

http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2009/01/27/Campus/Marijuana.Could.Prevent.Alzheimers-3598061.shtml">More


Some interesting comments on this http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/27/1354225">here


A funny Alzheimers joke found here:http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/16/1347230&tid=272">"Coffee Can Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's"

An old couple both have Alzheimers. They're watching TV and an advert for a burger joint comes on.

"Hey," the man says, "burgers would be great! Could you make some? I'd like lettuce, tomatoes and onions on mine. Don't forget! Lettuce. Tomatoes. Onions."

Wife replies "Lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Got it. Lettuce, tomatoes and onions."

About 2 hours later she comes out of the kitchen and hands him a plate of bacon and eggs. "You idiot," he cries, "you forgot the toast!"
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sasquatch Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 05:11 AM
Response to Original message
1. Great joke
:rofl:
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merica4biden Donating Member (16 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 10:05 AM
Response to Original message
2. that's ironic
pot preventing memory loss
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devilgrrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 04:43 PM
Response to Reply #2
7. Maybe you should try some...
unless you're afraid that it will lead to using coke or Oxycontin.

:sarcasm:
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Ghost in the Machine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
3. Marijuana is good for treating Anxiety and Depression
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17959812?ordinalpos=6&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Cannabinoids elicit antidepressant-like behavior and activate serotonergic neurons through the medial prefrontal cortex.Bambico FR, Katz N, Debonnel G, Gobbi G.
Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1A1.

Preclinical and clinical studies show that cannabis modulates mood and possesses antidepressant-like properties, mediated by the agonistic activity of cannabinoids on central CB1 receptors (CB1Rs). The action of CB1R agonists on the serotonin (5-HT) system, the major transmitter system involved in mood control and implicated in the mechanism of action of antidepressants, remains however poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that, at low doses, the CB1R agonist WIN55,212-2 pyrrolo<1,2,3-de>-1,4-benzoxazinyl]-(1-naphthalenyl) methanone mesylate] exerts potent antidepressant-like properties in the rat forced-swim test (FST). This effect is CB1R dependent because it was blocked by the CB1R antagonist rimonabant and is 5-HT mediated because it was abolished by pretreatment with the 5-HT-depleting agent parachlorophenylalanine. Then, using in vivo electrophysiology, we showed that low doses of WIN55,212-2 dose dependently enhanced dorsal raphe nucleus 5-HT neuronal activity through a CB1R-dependent mechanism. Conversely, high doses of WIN55,212-2 were ineffective in the FST and decreased 5-HT neuronal activity through a CB1R-independent mechanism. The CB1R agonist-induced enhancement of 5-HT neuronal activity was abolished by total or medial prefrontocortical, but not by lateral prefrontocortical, transection. Furthermore, 5-HT neuronal activity was enhanced by the local microinjection of WIN55,212-2 into the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (mPFCv) but not by the local microinjection of WIN55,212-2 into the lateral prefrontal cortex. Similarly, the microinjection of WIN55,212-2 into the mPFCv produced a CB1R-dependent antidepressant-like effect in the FST. These results demonstrate that CB1R agonists possess antidepressant-like properties and modulate 5-HT neuronal activity via the mPFCv.
---

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17945507?ordinalpos=7&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Enhancement of endocannabinoid signaling and the pharmacotherapy of depression.Mangieri RA, Piomelli D.
Department of Pharmacology and Center for Drug Discovery, The University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.

Cannabinoids are well known modulators of mood and emotional behavior. Current research supports a role for endocannabinoid signaling in the treatment of depression. Changes in levels of the cannabinoid CB(1) receptor or the endogenous CB(1) receptor ligands, anandamide and 2-AG, are observed both in humans suffering from depression and in animal models of depression, and experimental manipulation of CB(1) receptor signaling has also been shown to affect emotional reactivity in rodents. Importantly, inhibitors of anandamide inactivation have demonstrated efficacy in enhancing stress-coping and mood-related behavior. This article will review these areas of research, highlighting the potential of endocannabinoid metabolism modulators as therapeutics for the treatment of depression.

http://www.congressunderfire.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=109&topic_id=91&mesg_id=91&page=

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Tyler Generation Donating Member (344 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 12:40 PM
Response to Original message
4. But, but it's 1,000,000,000 times more potent
Than the stuff from the 60's!:eyes:
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Bonobo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 12:43 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. That was yesterday, man!
Now it's 2 trillion times more powerful.

How will we protect the CHILDREN!!!!???
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Ghost in the Machine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 04:37 PM
Response to Original message
6. Why do Medical Marijuana threads die here so often?
:kick:

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Shardik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-28-09 04:46 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. They don't die. they just go out to a Krystal or Waffle House and say a looong time.
:)
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