There are ongoing studies on the medical use of cannabis. Meanwhile, more than 20 states in the USA have legalized the use of medical cannabis. This has also been the case in Germany since 01.03.2017. Studies have shown that cannabis can be effective in the treatment of several health problems. These include glaucoma, anxiety, epileptic seizures and even cancer. A new study suggests that marijuana could play a key role in the treatment of cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease
According to the Alzheimer's Association, the first signs of a disease can already appear between 40 and 50 years of age. It is a type of dementia associated with the loss of brain function. Alzheimer's can begin with minor memory problems and become progressively worse over time.
The Alzheimer's Association explains:"As Alzheimer's disease gradually attacks the brain, the symptoms become increasingly severe. This includes faulty orientation, mood swings and behavioural changes, increasing confusion about events, time periods and places, unfounded suspicions against one's own family, friends and caregivers, severe memory gaps and behavioural changes as well as difficulties in speaking, swallowing and walking.".
Can cannabis cure Alzheimer's disease?
It is assumed that Alzheimer's disease is caused by an accumulation of proteins on the neurons. The concentration of the protein beta amyloid in the human brain increases with age. Researchers from the Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, believe that beta amyloid triggers an intercellular toxic inflammation that leads to the death of brain cells.
The study
The study showed that there is an inflammatory reaction in the nerve cells caused by the accumulation of intercellular beta amyloid proteins. This accumulation in the nerve cells is the early stage of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers have found that the progression of the disease can be halted by stimulating the brain's cannabinoid receptors. Psychoactive cannabinoids such as THC, which occurs in cannabis, as well as non-psycho-active cannabinoids such as CBD protect the brain. They stimulate the removal of beta amyloid and inhibit the inflammatory reaction. The researchers explain "cell death can only be stopped by 5-LOX inhibitors, cannabinoids and caspase-inhibitors."
Research carried out by an endocannabinoid research group at the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry in Naples compared previous studies on cannabis receptors in the brain. They found that endocannabinoids "trigger an endogenously adapted reaction that balances the neurochemical and inflammatory reactions of the hyperactivity of tau proteins caused by the amyloids, thus eliminating what is probably the most important trigger of Alzheimer's disease". Researchers of the group state that these discoveries "could open the way to the use of cannabinoid receptor antagonists as therapeutic applications for the treatment of cognitive deficits in advanced stages of the disease."!