Marijuana-like chemicals in the brain may point to a treatment for Parkinson's disease. In a study to be published in the February 8 issue of Nature, researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals found in the brain that are similar to the active compounds in marijuana and hashish, helped trigger a dramatic improvement in mice with a condition similar to Parkinson's.
"The dopamine drug alone did a little bit but it wasn't great, and the drug that targeted the enzyme that degrades endocannabinoids basically did nothing alone," said Anatol Kreitzer at Stanford University school of medicine. "But when we gave the two together, the animals really improved dramatically."
- here's a report on the research from The Guardian
- and here's the release