Isn't it ironic, dont'cha think?

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 23 (HealthDay News) -- By suppressing inflammation in the brain, a synthetic marijuana compound could potentially offer some protection against Alzheimer's disease, Spanish scientists report.

The researchers, who studied the brain tissue of deceased Alzheimer's patients, discovered that many of these patients lose the function of important cannabinoid brain receptors, which seem to guard against cognitive decline.

They further discovered in a rat study involving synthetic marijuana that when these brain receptors were working, they reduced the brain inflammation that is associated with Alzheimer's.

"This is the first time the effects of such damage have been found in Alzheimer's patients," said study co-author Maria de Ceballos, head of the neurodegeneration group at the Cajal Institute, Spain's largest neuroscience research center, in Madrid. "Previously, it has been known only in those with acute brain damage from trauma."

The findings appear in the Feb. 23 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.