Nicotine Drug Shows Potential Benefits For Dementia Patients
Scientists have shown that nicotine, which has well-known toxic effects and carries a risk of addiction, can actually benefit memory and attention.
Their findings may help add six extra months of independent living to dementia patients, according to researchers at King’s College London.
Nicotine’s memory boosting effects were seen through experiments on laboratory rats. Nicotine boosted the animals’ ability to carry out a task accurately – particularly when they were also distracted, researchers said.
Researchers were able to pinpoint the effects of several key chemicals in the brain, including dopamine and noradrenaline.
The rats correctly responded to stimuli about 80 percent of the time, when able to give full attention. Nicotine added to their accuracy rate by about 5 percent.
Conversely, when distracted, the animals’ success rate fell to about 55%. In this case nicotine brought it back up to around the 85% level.
It transpired that there are only subtle biochemical differences in the way nicotine stimulates the brain, and triggers addiction.
Nicotine stimulates flow of the hormone adrenaline in the body, which can produce both effects.
"Nicotine, like many other drugs, has multiple effects, some of which are harmful, whereas others may be beneficial,” said lead researcher Professor Ian Stolerman.
"It may be possible for medicinal chemists to devise compounds that provide some of the beneficial effects of nicotine while cutting out the toxic effects," he added.
Stolerman insisted that these benefits were small, and unlikely to be exhibited in most people, but they could benefit the lives of dementia patients by adding a "cognitive boost."
He also said that the boost may contribute to the pleasure many smokers get from their habit.
Still, nicotine’s health risks outweigh its benefits, said Professor Clive Ballard of the Alzheimer’s Society.
"Smoking increases risk of vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia and is associated with a number of other health risks,” Ballard said.
"More research is now needed to find a safe and effective treatment for dementia, with the potential benefits of nicotine, but without the health risks."
Rebecca Wood, of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, agreed, adding that the best way to reduce risk was to eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly.
Professor Stolerman said there was no reason to believe that nicotine or smoking reduced the risk of getting dementia – it only helps to reverse symptoms.
The research will be presented to a Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Geneva.
—
On the Net: