A compound derived from marijuana might one day help fight the memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers have shown that a synthetic drug similar to cannabis can help older rats perform better on a spatial memory task.

Over a period of three weeks, Gary Wenk at Ohio State University in Columbus, US, and colleagues injected the brains of young and old rats with an inflammatory molecule that created an immune response in the animals’ brains which mimics that seen in Alzheimer’s patients.

During the same period the researchers also injected some of the rats with a synthetic drug similar to cannabis, called WIN-55212-2, which stimulates the brain receptors that normally respond to cannabis compounds.

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The main psychoactive ingredient in Marijuana, THC (tetrahydro-cannabinol), is fat-soluble and does enter breast milk and the baby - often, due to the size of the infant, in higher blood concentrations than the mother. However, there is no firm evidence that Marijuana or THC can stunt, impair or damage a baby or their growth. One report has stated that Marijuana's THC might delay infant motor development but we have been unable to track down and read the original study. Information on this subject is often tainted by the general assumption that "illegal drugs are bad for you" when in fact alcohol and Prozac (fluoxetine) have more worrying question marks over their effects during breastfeeding.

Nevertheless, it is probably best of avoid Marijuana and other legal and illegal drugs while breastfeeding. If for nothing else but piece of mind. If you have smoked Marijuana, the guilt of feeling that you may have harmed your baby can be a terrible thing.