SYDNEY –
Australian scientists have discovered that cannabis could help reverse dementia.
Researchers from Neuroscience Research Australia (NRA) believe one of the main active ingredients in cannabis – cannabidiol – could reverse some of the symptoms of memory loss, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Tim Karl, a senior NRA researcher says that cannabidiol has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and other effects that could be beneficial for the brain.
According to Karl, “Back in the day cannabis was used for medical purposes, I'm talking 200 years, 100 years back, then at some point people discovered it had other effects and, as quite often happens in our society, people decided it was a bad drug.”
He told the Sydney Morning Herald that even though “most of the components [of marijuana] are detrimental – they worsen your cognitive performance and have psychoactive effects – cannabidiol seems to not have any of these negative effects.”
The researchers injected cannabidiol into mice that had been bred with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.
They found that the mice showed drastic improvements during tests where they had to remember objects and other mice.
The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the Australian Neuroscience Society this week.
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