Lisa Carper asks for a summary of the NYTimes article (Jan.14th) concerning
the effect of nicotine on neurological diseases, especially Parkinson's. The
article is too long (half a page) for an adequate summary, but the essential
points are:
People are uncomfortable with the notion that smoking can have benefits,
and this makes it difficult to get funding to do research on possible effect
nicotine may have on various diseases, most notably Parkinson's and to a
lesser extent Alzheimer's, though the recent availability of nicotine in form
other than cigarettes has increased interest in the research.
The research focuses primarily on "why there are receptors in the
central nervous system that bind so strongly to nicotine. . . Throughout the
body, there are protein units called nicotine cholinergic receptors on the
surface of many types of cells. Nicotine attaches to the receptors and
stimulates activity in the cell. In particular, it stimulates the release of
many types of neurotransmitters, chemical messengers that carry signals from
cell to cell, including dopamine, acetylcholine and glutamate."
Data, which does take into account the premature death of many smokers,
indicates that smokers have half the risk of the general population of
getting PD and a reduced risk of getting Alzheimer's, especially the early
onset inherited form.
"A few small studies indicate that nicotine patches or intravenous
infusions of nicotine may help tread Parkinson's symptoms."
Possible benefits to Alzheimers also show some promise. "Animal & human
studies have shown that nicotine can enhance learning, memory, cerebral blood
flow & the performance of certain repetitive tasks."
Kenneth Lloyd of Sibia Neurosciences Inc. is testing 2 nicotine-like
compounds that separately target PD & Alzheimers. "One compound, SIB 1508Y,
works on the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and acetylcholine to
target cognitive dysfunction associated with PD." The other, SIB 1553A, may
improve long & short-term memory associated with Alzheimer's.
The effect of nicotine on a few other diseases is briefly discussed in the
article.
I hope this summary gives some sense of the article. I am not a talentedWEB
brouser, but I wonder if the article itself isn't there someplace.
Sara
Thomas
