Nicotine 'could help Alzheimer's sufferers boost their concentration'

It is the chemical which makes smokers hooked, but scientists believe that nicotine could have its benefits - and that it could hold the key to new treatments for Alzheimer's.

The "boost" in concentration that smokers experience from cigarettes could help sufferers fight the mental decline associated with dementia, studies suggest.

Tests are already underway on nicotine based treatments which researchers believe could delay the onset of the disease, offering sufferers crucial extra time.

Part of the reason that nicotine, which is also found in small quantities in foods like cocoa and tomatoes, as well as tobacco, is so addictive is because it acts as a stimulant, increasing the flow of adrenaline in the body.
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Studies in rodents have shown that treatments based on nicotine can stimulate parts of the brain which improve concentration and quicken the responses.

Professor Ian Stolerman, from King's College in London, who led the studies, said that such treatments could offer "relief" to dementia patients, tens of thousands of whom are diagnosed in Britain every year.

Prof Stolerman said: "The substances we call drugs, in the majority of cases, actually do have a mixture of beneficial and harmful effects and nicotine is no exception in this."

Prof Stolerman started his research more than 10 years ago, initially not expecting to find that nicotine would have much effect on the brain's ability to concentrate.

His studies prove that the nicotine is more effective than other popular stimulants like caffeine at enhancing the brain's attention span.

His research suggests that the relatively small effect that nicotine has on healthy people would be greatly magnified in dementia sufferers.

The effect of the treatments could allow Alzheimer's sufferers to delay the onset of the disease for months, he believes.

Some drugs using nicotine as a base are currently in clinical trials and could potentially be on the market within a few years.

Prof Stolerman admitted that there is potential for addiction with the therapies.

"The cognitive 'boost' that many smokers experience from nicotine probably contributes to the reason that people smoke cigarettes, so it may not be possible to totally prevent addiction," Prof Stolerman said.

"Nevertheless, the potential for abuse of a medicine based on pure nicotine-like substance is likely to be very small."

He also warned against taking up smoking, because of the range of other harmful chemicals in cigarettes.

There are a number of treatments for dementia on the market which can also work to slow the progression of the disease.

However, many of these have harmful side effects, including incontinence, which Prof. Stolerman said would be absent from nicotine based treatments.

"The current therapies which do not involve nicotine are thought to give an advantage of several months (to dementia patients) but the side affects are really quite serious.

"The hope would be we would have a bit more effectiveness with rather less toxins. What we are talking about is some time, some symptomatic relief."

Prof Stolerman will present a review of his findings at the Forum of European Neuroscience conference in Geneva today (MON).

A spokesman for the Alzheimer's Society said: "Although nicotine has therapeutic qualities, when it is absorbed through smoking the health risks outweigh the benefits. Smoking increases risk of vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia and is associated with a number of other health risks.

"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."

More than 800,000 people in Britain have dementia, around 600,000 of whom have Alzheimer's, the most common form.