Marijuana Found to Help Prevent and Stop the Progression of Alzheimer's

**KelJu** · 08-18-2006, 07:39 PM

Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia among the elderly, and with the ever-increasing size of this population, cases of Alzheimer's disease are expected to triple over the next 50 years. Consequently, the development of treatments that slow or halt the disease progression have become imperative to both improve the quality of life for patients and reduce the health care costs attributable to Alzheimer's disease. Here, we demonstrate that the active component of marijuana, 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), competitively inhibits the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as well as prevents AChE-induced amyloid -peptide (A) 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 A aggregation, and this study provides a previously unrecognized molecular mechanism through which cannabinoid molecules may directly impact the progression of this debilitating disease.

It was also found that "delta-9-THC was more than twice as effective as donazepil at inhibiting acetylcholinesterase activity. Donazepil is one of the medications used currently to slow the progression of Alzheimers." Source.

This is a very serious issue for me, as my grandmother is in the later stages of Alzheimer's and my mother is at a serious risk for getting it later in life. If something like medical marijuana can help fight Alzheimer's, then I am all for it, especially if it is more effective than one of the major medications already used to fight Alzheimer's.

Yes I know marijuana causes memory loss. The thing about memory loss caused by marijuana is that it's not permanent, nor is it fatal.

**CowPimp** · 08-18-2006, 07:59 PM

I'll smoke to that.

I'm sure its acceptance as a treatment for this disease will be slowed down by pharmaceutical company lobbying and the bureaucracy that is the FDA drug approval process. Ah well, such is life.

**BigDyl** · 08-18-2006, 08:03 PM

This doesn't mean smoke 10 blunts a day.

**Bakerboy** · 08-18-2006, 08:56 PM

In Canada you can smoke pot legally if you have cancer and other such afflictions, for medicinal purposes. Is it like that in the US?

**fufu** · 08-18-2006, 10:44 PM

My pothead friend was just telling me about this today.

**Focus** · 08-18-2006, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by Bakerboy

In Canada you can smoke pot legally if you have cancer and other such afflictions, for medicinal purposes. Is it like that in the US?

Yes, I believe that is true here as well.

**fufu** · 08-19-2006, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by Bakerboy

In Canada you can smoke pot legally if you have cancer and other such afflictions, for medicinal purposes. Is it like that in the US?

I think only in California. I think.

**Focus** · 08-19-2006, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by fufu

I think only in California. I think.

What was that strange law passed in Colorado about? I remember, I want to say last year, that some law was passed allowing a Colorado resident to legally posess, but not use, a very small amount of marijuana.

**CowPimp** · 08-19-2006, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by fufu

I think only in California. I think.

Federal law enforcement agencies have deputized state police officers as such and arrested people for smoking medical marijuana anyway. It's pretty ridiculous.

**maniclion** · 08-19-2006, 03:46 PM

The Hawaii legislature becomes the first state legislature to legalize marijuana for medical purposes; the other six states that have legalized medical use have done so via voter initiatives.
The law allows for the medical use of marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, for patients who suffer from such medical conditions as cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, a chronic or debilitating disease, wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe muscle spasms including multiple sclerosis, or any other medical condition approved by the department of health.
Patients are allowed to possess no more than three mature marijuana plants, four immature plants and one ounce of smokable marijuana per each mature plant. Patients and their primary caregivers will be required to register annually with the Hawaii Department of Public Safety which has some medical marijuana activists concerned.

_

**maniclion** · 08-19-2006, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by SuperFlex

It will also make you dumbererererrrrerereeer than someone will it...

The memory loss is short and not near as bad as say being on Oxycontin for months on end yet thats a legally prescribed drug, I had a friend on prozac who said he had such mental fog on it that he can't beleive people try to say MJ is bad.

**fufu** · 08-19-2006, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by CowPimp

Federal law enforcement agencies have deputized state police officers as such and arrested people for smoking medical marijuana anyway. It's pretty ridiculous.

I agree.

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