The cannabis plant has hundreds of chemical compounds, including flavonoids, terpenes, and cannabinoids. You may have heard of THC and CBD, the most well-known cannabinoids in the plant, but what you may not have heard is that they have an effective healthcare application in treating neurodegenerative diseases.
What are neurodegenerative diseases?
Neurodegenerative diseases refer to a range of conditions that cause progressive damage or death of nerve cells in the brain and nervous system. Examples of these diseases include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's disease, and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). All of these diseases have in common that they share the same three destructive processes in the brain: excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and inflammation.
Excitotoxicity
Excitotoxicity is a process that occurs when nerve cells are damaged and die from excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters such as glutamate. Normally, glutamate acts as a crucial messenger in the brain and plays a key role in learning and memory. However, when glutamate levels become too high due to factors such as trauma, stroke, or neurodegenerative diseases, it can lead to overactivation of receptors and ultimately cause cell death.
Oxidative stress
Oxidative stress is a process that occurs in our bodies when there are too many harmful molecules called free radicals. When it occurs in the brain, it can be especially damaging because brain cells, called neurons, do not regenerate like other cells in the body. When neurons are damaged, they cannot be replaced, and this can lead to the symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases, such as memory loss, difficulty moving, and other cognitive problems.
Inflammation:
Inflammation is a natural response of the body to injury or infection, and in normal cases it is a positive effect because it helps the body to repair itself faster. However, in neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation can become chronic or excessive and can lead to the destruction of brain cells and progressive deterioration of brain function.
Why is cannabis more effective than other treatments?
All other current drugs used to treat these diseases can only address one of these destructive processes at a time, either by blocking the excitotoxin receptor, or by treating inflammation, or by targeting the oxidative process, but never all three at the same time. Cannabinoids are effective in this treatment because they address all three of these destructive processes simultaneously: they bind to neurotoxins and reduce glutamate release, they suppress inflammation, they scavenge free radicals, and they reduce oxidation.
Our own cannabinoid system
Our bodies produce their own endocannabinoids, similar to those in the cannabis plant, and we even have cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) in our brains and skin that marijuana connects to. Research has shown that endocannabinoids are produced by neurons and function as neurotransmitters (messengers that send signals to our brains). But, just as these cannabinoids leave the cell with a message, they can also work in reverse. Cannabinoids can travel backwards in nerve fibers and regulate the cell's response to an excitatory signal (such as pain). It explains why cannabinoids are so effective at controlling a wild, violent brain in the case of a brain-injured patient or reducing seizure impulses by down-regulating the response of neurons that are out of control.
Prevention
Not only can cannabis be used to treat an existing disease or neurodegenerative disorder, but it can also prevent it by reducing those three destructive processes mentioned above (oxidation, inflammation, and neurotoxicity). As with everything related to health, we recommend always doing so under the supervision of a healthcare professional, but that being said, if you consume or want to consume cannabis products, in all cases it is best to get yourself top-quality products.
Find good cannabis products
Luckily, here in Barcelona you can easily do this and make sure you are getting cannabis from an approved supplier if you purchase it from dispensaries or marijuana clubs. You can become a member of one of these clubs by requesting an invitation online, and you will soon have access to a wide menu of premium cannabis products.
Conclusion
In short, cannabis has been shown to have a number of medicinal properties, but its prohibition in the early 20th century has set us back many years in terms of research. Thanks to recent changes in global policies regarding marijuana, it is becoming easier to research and consume cannabis-derived products. We hope that over time the stigma that has been created around marijuana can disappear and more people can learn about and enjoy its benefits.
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