Nicotine could soon be rehabilitated as a treatment for
schizophrenia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as
hyperactivity disorders.
Research shows that the chemical that has addicted millions to
smoking has a powerful impact on brain activity in patients who
suffer from psychiatric and degenerative disorders.
Some experiments have shown that nicotine can slow down the
onset of Parkinson's symptoms; others have had revealed its power
in curtailing the hallucinations of schizophrenics.
'A whole range of psychiatric conditions seem to be helped by
nicotine,' said Dr Dan McGehee, a neurobiologist at the University
of Chicago. 'However, such benefits do not justify smoking. The
lethal effects of cigarettes far outweigh any help they provide. On
the other hand, our research does suggest that derivatives of
nicotine, administered medically, could help to alleviate a range
of psychiatric problems.'
Nicotine is known to switch on receptors on the surface of cells
in certain parts of the brain, causing these neurones to release
the neuro-transmitter dopamine, a chemical that is associated with
feelings of pleasure. This effect leads to a person's
addiction.
More than 50 per cent of people suffering from clinical
depression smoke, while the figure rises to 95 per cent for
schizophrenics. But smoking among the general public has dropped to
about 25 per cent. 'The assumption is that people with psychiatric
conditions are self-medicating,' said McGehee. 'They are smoking
because the nicotine in particularly helpful in alleviating their
condition.'
This point is backed by Dr Tony George, of Yale University.
'Smoking is a marker for psychopathology,' he states in the current
issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
Similarly, it has been found that nicotine can sometimes slow
the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's, a disease caused by the
slow destruction of certain types of brain cells.
'Either nicotine stimulates other types of brain cells to
compensate for the loss of the cells involved in Parkinson's, or it
is somehow providing protection to remaining healthy Parkinson's
cells,' said McGehee. 'Either way, the effect is noticeable.'
