Alzheimer’s disease continues to be a serious problem, especially with experts believing that Alzheimer’s patients will triple in the United States alone by 2050. Because of this, there has been a large effort by the medical community to identify an effective treatment. In fact, a recent study revealed that marijuana may be the key to treating Alzheimer’s.

Beta-Amyloid Proteins and Their Role in Alzheimer’s Disease

The marijuana study was recently published in the Aging and Mechanisms of Disease journal. According to the study, marijuana contains a compound that helps reduce beta-amyloid protein levels. Beta-amyloid is a protein commonly linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Basically, it clumps together within the brain of patients affected by the disease, causing a plaque to form.

Several studies have shown that the plaque caused by the beta-amyloid protein causes a disruption in the communication between the brain’s neurons. This disruption is what’s said to cause the symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease, such as memory loss. The problem with attempting to prevent beta-amyloid proteins from accumulating is that researches are still unfamiliar with the exact process that the protein has in the development of Alzheimer’s.

How Marijuana Can Help Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

The research team at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, found that an increase in beta-amyloid production led to the increased expression of pro-inflammatory proteins in the nerve cells. This, in turn, would cause both inflammation and nerve cell death. Inflammation is something that has always been associated with Alzheimer’s, but most researchers believed that this was being caused by immune-like cells within the brain and not the actual nerve cells.

How does marijuana fit into all of this? Marijuana contains THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which are similar to endocannabinoids, which are naturally produced by nerve cells to help aid nerve cell signaling. Basically, researchers figured out that marijuana could reduce the levels of beta-amyloid and eliminate the inflammation caused by the protein.

It turns out that marijuana could be extremely useful in helping treat Alzheimer’s disease. For more health-related news, visit us at The Benefits Store today.