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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCannabis May Slow Brain Aging
http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/29/how-cannabinoids-may-slow-brain-aging/?iid=obinsiteThe over 65 voting bloc may be the least likely to support marijuana legalization, but they might find it's in their best interests to do so. Cannabis' ability to help with inflammation and pain is well known.
In addition, not withstanding the stoner memory-loss stereotype, marijuana may help with Alzheimers, brain aging and degenerative diseases. Cases of Alzheimer's disease are expected to triple over the next 50 years.
Activation of cannabinoid receptors can also reduce brain inflammation in several different ways, which may in turn suppress some of the disease processes responsible for degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimers.
Andras Bilkei-Gorzo of the Institute of Molecular Psychiatry at the University of Bonn in Germany and an author of the study, is encouraged by the expanding knowledge of the brains cannabinoid system and its potential for leading to new understanding of aging in the brain. [C]annabinoid system activity is neuroprotective, he wrote, and increasing it could be a promising strategy for slowing down the progression of brain aging and for alleviating the symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders.
Other studies covered in the review showed that mice bred to lack the cannabinoid receptors have better memories early in life but have more rapid cognitive decline as they age, including inflammation in the hippocampus, a key region for memory. This finding suggests that, at some point during aging, cannabinoid activity helps maintain normal cognitive functions in mice, says Daniele Piomelli, professor of neurobiology, anatomy and biological chemistry at the University of California Irvine, who was not associated with the study.
In 2006, one study showed -
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17140265
A molecular link between the active component of marijuana and Alzheimer's disease pathology.
Eubanks LM, Rogers CJ, Beuscher AE 4th, Koob GF, Olson AJ, Dickerson TJ, Janda KD.
Source
Department of Chemistry and Immunology, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
(The researchers) demonstrate that the active component of marijuana, Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), competitively inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as well as prevents AChE-induced amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) aggregation, the key pathological marker of Alzheimer's disease. Computational modeling of the THC-AChE interaction revealed that THC binds in the peripheral anionic site of AChE, the critical region involved in amyloidgenesis. Compared to currently approved drugs prescribed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, THC is a considerably superior inhibitor of Abeta aggregation, and this study provides a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism through which cannabinoid molecules may directly impact the progression of this debilitating disease.
These are things the elderly need to know about in order to make informed decisions. Their health may be improved by such actions.
SubgeniusHasSlack
(276 posts)Revelations 22:2
Cirque du So-What
(25,933 posts)and I hope MJ is legalized or at least decriminalized where I live. Of all life's pleasures that I've denied myself, I miss MJ the most - and that is only due to random drug testing that is part & parcel of working America.
pipoman
(16,038 posts)allowable amount of THC in one's blood from none to allow for use when not working. It would be pretty easy to make those drug test kits show negative unless the blood concentration is higher than say 2.0 ng/ml. It will be interesting to see how the private job sector handles legalization.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)It's not about the drug per se, it's all about whether you knuckle under to the regime or not.
This whole drug testing thing has become entirely too much a part of our culture to go away in any reasonable length of time.
shanti
(21,675 posts)stopped testing, even if they did. let's not forget the money that is involved in testing too...follow the money.
Ernesto
(5,077 posts)felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)Great news for people like me with Alzheimer's in the family. Bookmarked for later reading
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)greytdemocrat
(3,299 posts)RainDog
(28,784 posts)Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)and feel like I'm about 30. I think there's something to this.
salinen
(7,288 posts)like you who wake and bake since the sixties. I think you have good genetics. Most that I know have memory loss and are grandiose.
Blue_In_AK
(46,436 posts)anymore.
benld74
(9,904 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)If so, I just might take up smoking it again. I have not smoked it for more than 40 years.
RainDog
(28,784 posts)but the benefits related to chemo, nausea, epilepsy, MS, alzheimers, glaucoma, depression and anxiety might help add to elderly Americans' quality of life.
Some people have tried using cannabis oil to treat cancers, not just mitigate side-effects of treatment for cancer.
The interesting thing about cannabis and cancer treatment studies from a phase II clinical trial for brain cancer is that the cannabis surrounds the cancer cell and deprives it of the ability to reproduce, while healthy cells are left intact. But that's not from smoking - that's from concentrated oils.
duhneece
(4,112 posts)Can't wait.
Zorra
(27,670 posts)was possibly growing younger each year, if quantity ingested per year is a relative factor.
ErikJ
(6,335 posts)Study: Nicotine patch improves brain power
TRACY CONNOR
Monday, January 09, 2012
A nicotine patch boosted brain power in patients experiencing mild memory and attention problems a finding that could hold promise for Alzheimers research.
The study that produced the discovery looked at men and women with mild cognitive impairment, a condition that does not interfere with daily living but often progresses to dementia.
Half the 74 subjects all nonsmokers wore a nicotine. patch for six months, while the others were given a placebo.
The group that got the nicotine did better on cognition tests, although they and their doctors may not have noticed much improvement.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-01-09/news/30609552_1_nicotine-patch-mild-cognitive-impairment-study
Nicotine Could Play Role in Alzheimer's Disease Therapy, Neuroscientists Discover
ScienceDaily (Oct. 13, 2010)
A team of neuroscientists has discovered important new information in the search for an effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease, the debilitating neurological disorder that afflicts more than 5.3 million Americans and is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Hey-Kyoung Lee, associate professor in the University of Maryland Department of Biology, and her research team have shown that they may be able to eliminate debilitating side effects caused by a promising Alzheimer's drug by stimulating the brain's nicotine receptors.
"By stimulating the Alpha7 receptor with nicotine, we were able to recover normal brain function," explains Lee. "We are very hopeful that this will be a way to overcome the deficits seen with the BACE-1 knockouts."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101013095331.htm
RainDog
(28,784 posts)something that has been looked at in recreational terms only... tho tobacco is also a sacrament in some traditions.
The second study, however, was using nicotine to counteract a side effect of the standard alzheimer drug, and the study in my OP indicates cannabis has better results than that drug.
Avalux
(35,015 posts)but it may keep you from losing who you are. Amazing.