Marijuana may help stave off Alzheimer’s

[Warpy]

WASHINGTON - Good news for aging hippies: smoking pot may stave off Alzheimer’s disease.

New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of the disease by preserving levels of an important neurotransmitter that allows the brain to function.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana’s active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs.

THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimer’s patients, the researchers reported in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15145917/

Don't you wish they'd just tell whitebread conservative suburban parents to stuff it and legalize pot?

[Atman]

1. If I could only remember where I put my stash!

:shrug:

.

[Tesla]

2. It just kills short term memory until later.

[rock]

3. And if not

it's a risk I'm willing to take!

[salvorhardin]

4. Fascinating isn't it?

I wonder if THC is working any differently than the endocannibinoids (e.g. anandamide, which was the first endocannibinoid discovered and the only one whose name I actually know)? Maybe feeling good is an essential part of health for more reasons than one?

[glitch]

5. This may help explain the high incidence of alzheimers among conservatives

Shoulda listened to the hippies! (and not just on this)

[OnionPatch]

6. This is really wonderful news

Anything that staves off Alzheimer's disease is a blessing. It's an awful disease. That marijuana is the substance that seems to help is even more cool, IMO. :smoke: