Marijuana may just have the key ingredient to helping Alzheimer’s patients from suffering from their disease. The natural compound THC, which is found in the cannabis plant, has recently helped Alzheimer’s patients by unclogging some of their nerve cells, or neurons.
In a report by the Huffington Post, Alzheimer’s patients have certain symptoms from a clogging of these neurons and it causes their episodes where they do not know who they are, who their family is, and many others. But the THC in marijuana has been proven to help lessen the effects of Alzheimer’s on these patients in a new study.
New study says #Marijuana may prevent #Alzheimers. A review of all its effects on brain: https://t.co/rgoHWxcyrO http://pic.twitter.com/m8kW8p9cQd
— Medscape Pharmacists (@MedscapePharm) July 2, 2016
The basic premise behind people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease is the presence of beta-amyloid, which cause plaque to buildup in these people’s brains from protein clumps. When these plaques buildup, the neurons experience disruptions in the communications they have in the brain, which causes the symptoms that most Alzheimer’s patients endure.
The key here is to disrupt the beta-amyloid before it has a chance to disrupt a person’s brain. That is the basic way to treat Alzheimer’s disease, which is also the most logical way to knock out symptoms. So how is that accomplished, you might ask? Well, one way that has recently been proven is by smoking marijuana, or in some way getting the cannabis THC in your blood system.
But before an Alzheimer’s patient uses this method, he or she really needs to take the time to learn about how it works. The truth is, any inflammation in your brain can give you these types of symptoms, which includes Alzheimer’s disease.
A team of researchers really had to look close at the interaction between the two before they could conclude with their findings. Antonio Currais of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies was one of those researchers and he had some interesting insight into the role Alzheimer’s disease plays on the cellular level.
“Inflammation within the brain is a major component of the damage associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but it has always been assumed that this response was coming from immune-like cells in the brain, not the nerve cells themselves,” Currais wrote in his findings, as reported by Medical News Daily.
There is a very complex explanation for this, but to break it down the easiest way possible, it all boils down to the nerve receptors and how they function. The brain’s nerve receptors are called endocannabinoids and are activated by lipid molecules. But if these receptors are not working, then essentially the victim comes out with nerve cell death, which causes the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
What these researchers were trying to prove is that THC in marijuana, which is short for tetrahydrocannabinol, can essentially preserve the breakdown and can also activate the same receptors in the brain, thus keeping the brain cells alive.
Now that is stretch from the previously held belief that marijuana kills brain cells. As a matter of fact, that is the complete opposite of the previously held claim that has been heard on public service announcements and classrooms all around the country.
“When we were able to identify the molecular basis of the inflammatory response to amyloid beta, it became clear that THC-like compounds that the nerve cells make themselves may be involved in protecting the cells from dying,” Currais wrote in his report.
Marijuana Shown To Protect Brain Cells From Alzheimers | https://t.co/DwVF7NoFgt | #OrlandoShooter http://pic.twitter.com/WDrMVCnnIy
— 420 Meta (@420Meta) July 1, 2016
Antonio Currais and his team were able to prove their theory by testing out the THC in marijuana on nerve cells with a high beta-amyloid production. The results were just as they had hypothesized and they were able to prove that the THC in marijuana prevented the death of these vital nerve cells.
Professor David Schubert was also among the study and he has concluded, definitively, that marijuana, or at least THC, can indeed help people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.
“Although other studies have offered evidence that cannabinoids might be neuroprotective against the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, we believe our study is the first to demonstrate that cannabinoids affect both inflammation and amyloid beta accumulation in nerve cells,” Schubert wrote.
[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
Marijuana Key Ingredient THC Helps Alzheimer’s Victims is an article from: The Inquisitr News
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