Medical Marijuana Breakthrough: Cannabis Can Help Cure Alzheimer's Disease

Medical marijuana is aimed and hoped to be legalized in many countries. Reports of cannabis that make patients better are quite overwhelming. The current study shows that the components of marijuana can help fight Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California discovered that marijuana can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease. One of the components that is present in cannabis is the THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the key for the mind-altering compound. The experts were able to detect that it can remove amyloid from the brain.

The toxic protein called amyloid is the main component found in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. Doctors consider amyloid to be the hallmark of the disease. Also, one of the triggers for the disease is the inflammation of brain for it helps the formation of amyloid. Meanwhile, the cannabinoid that is found in marijuana is anti-inflammatory.

Medical marijuana does not only remove amyloid it also prevents it from forming. Senior author of the paper Professor David Schubert said, "Although other studies have offered evidence cannabinoids might be neuroprotective against the symptoms of Alzheimer's, we believe our study is the first to demonstrate they affect both inflammation and amyloid beta accumulation in nerve cells," according to Mirror.UK.

In addition, Salk researchers found a link between the high level of amyloid and inflammation within the cells that result in the death of brain cells. The experts exposed those cells to THC and found that it eliminates the inflammation and lowered amyloid levels.

Neel Nabar co-author of the study shared that "it's important to keep in mind that just because a drug may be effective doesn't mean it can be safely used by anyone. He added that their findings may lead to the development of related compounds that are safe, legal, and useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, as reported by Alzheimers.net.