Pubdate: Tue, 04 Jun 2013
Source: Washington Examiner (DC)
Copyright: 2013 United Press International
Contact:  http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3788

TINY BIT OF THC IN POT PROTECTED MICE FROM BRAIN DAMAGE

(UPI) - A tiny amount of tetrahydrocannabinol - the active ingredient 
in marijuana - may protect against some brain damage in mice, an 
Israeli researcher says.

Researchers injected mice with a low dose of THC either before or 
after exposing them to brain trauma. Similar rodents in a control 
group were also injured but received no THC, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The study, published in Behavioural Brain Research and Experimental 
Brain Research, found about a month or two later, the mice that got 
the THC did better in behavioral tests measuring learning and memory 
and showed they had greater amounts of neuroprotective chemicals than 
the control-group mice.

The low dose of the THC and long period for administering it would 
have obvious benefits after an injury, but it also could mean that 
THC could be given prior to a procedure that might carry risk of 
brain injury, such as an interruption of blood flow to the brain 
during surgery or for regular use among epileptics, Sarne said.
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