Nicotine patch may help improve memory, study finds

msnbc.com/ By Linda Carroll

Nicotine may help tune up the brains of seniors suffering from mild memory loss, a new study shows.

Researchers found that seniors suffering from mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, could boost their memories with a nicotine patch, according to the study published in Neurology.

The patches also led to improvements in attention and mental processing. But these effects weren’t as strong as the impact on memory, said study co-author Dr. Paul Newhouse, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Cognitive Medicine at Vanderbilt Medical Center. “The take-home message for this is that nicotine may be helpful in those with early signs of memory loss,” Newhouse said.

MCI is considered to be a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, bringing similar, though less severe, symptoms such as mild memory loss, slowed thinking and attention problems. Currently, there are no medications approved to treat those symptoms.

Experts suspect that in MCI, just as in Alzheimer’s disease, there is deterioration and death of nerve cells in the brain that make a critical chemical messenger called acetylcholine. As levels of the neurotransmitter drop, memory and other mental functions decline.  More >>