Marijuana’s effects on Neurological Diseases
Introduction:
In the last eight years or so the United States has seen a huge increase in curiosity of medical marijuana and even seen some changes to the laws pertaining to marijuana. On the federal level marijuana and its medical uses were outlawed completely by the Supreme Court in 1970 by the Controlled Substance Act. On the state level fourteen states allow the use of medical marijuana with the proper physician’s prescription ( California was the first state to legalize the medical use of marijuana in 2003, with the other fourteen states following close behind. Each state has its own regulations on how much marijuana a patient and/or caregiver can obtain at one time and also how many plants the individual can being growing at one time. Researchers have been working to study the effects and proper usage/dosage marijuana can help to slow down neurological diseases and stabilize chemical imbalances in the brain.
Alzheimer’s Disease:
There have been numerous studies about Alzheimer’s disease and if there is any way to slow down or help with the memory loss. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia in the United States and is associated with the nerve cells in the brain. As people age “plaque” builds up between nerve endings. This plaque contains a protein called beta-amyloid. The beta-amyloid protein is just a fragment of the full protein Amyloid. The fragments in a brain with Alzheimer's accumulate and in a healthy brain they are broken down ( There are also “tangles” in the brain; tangles are another protein called tau. The tau protein helps to stabilize microtubules. Microtubules are a part of the cytoskeleton, which is the form of a single cell ( without the microtubules the cell would be destroyed. In recent researcher, scientists believe that these plaques and tangles “block communication among nerve cells and disrupt activities that cells need to survive” ( In a study done at the Scripps Research Institute in California, scientists hypothesized that the THC in marijuana could block the protein beta-amyloid to slow the buildup of plaques and tangles and therefore slowing down the disease. In the study, the researchers were looking specifically at the enzyme inhibitor site of AChE (acetylcholinesterase), which is responsible for the degeneration of the nerves in the brain (Eubanks et. Al 2006). This study along with numerous others has shown that the THC in marijuana actually binds with AChE, so that the beta-amyloid protein cannot, which slows the degeneration. Another finding that the study was not set out to find was that, since the THC is binding with the AChE and slowing the rate of degrading nerve cells, the THC is also reducing the amount of beta-amyloid proteins that are being made. That means that the THC in marijuana “simultaneously treating both the symptoms and progression of Alzheimer's disease” (Eubanks et. al 2006). The researchers have not completely figured out how and why this happens, current studies are in process examining this effect. Therefore with the proper quantity and administration method, marijuana can in fact help to slow the progression of the most common type of dementia in the United States. Marijuana can also help to deal with the crippling symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by slowing the rate of the growth of beta-amyloid and tau proteins in the brain.
Parkinson’s Disease:
Parkinson’s disease is disorder in which neurons are impaired. Neurons are responsible for the brain sending messages to the rest of the body to perform movements or reactions. The neurons are located in the substantia nigra part of the brain, which is responsible for movement, addiction, and rewards. However Parkinson’s is directly related to the movement part of the neurons, its causes slow movement, shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance ( Although there have only been a few studies done on the affect of marijuana on Parkinson’s disease the results of those studies have been very promising to help the debilitating disease. Researchers first figured that marijuana might help Parkinson’s patients because neurologists know that the natural supply on cannabinoid in a person’s body slow down that connects between the subthalamic nucleus to the substantia nigra. The subthalamic nucleus is believed to be responsible for action selection ( This would help with Parkinson’s disease because it is a “hyperactivity” of these pathways, so the slowing the connections would make the disease effect the body’s movements at a much slower rate (Joy et.al 1999). If the connections were slower than the person’s symptoms would be more manageable and not as debilitating. One of the most predominant studies at this time was one that only included five cases of Parkinson’s disease and that with the use of marijuana the tremors that the five patients were experiencing had reduced. Although the research in the preliminary stages, the scientists hypothesize that with an increase level of cannabinoid in the body directly affects the neurons and the pathways to the substania nigra part of the brain. However more studies need to be conducted before the FDA will even look at the possibility of marijuana as an affective form of treatment. The studies out have a good start but need improved tests to confirm the change in tremors, muscle movements, and stiffness. The tests that the studies have out now are few mediocre and are debatable.
Gliomas:
As one of the top five leading causes of death in the United States, cancer and it treatments are at the top of the research list. Chemotherapy and radiation are the two most common forms of treatment, but new and upcoming research has shown that marijuana may have it benefits to the treatment of cancer as well. Specific research on Gliomas has shown just what marijuana might be capable of with regard to tumor growth. Gliomas are a type of tumor that starts in the brain or spine and attacks the “glial cells”. The ‘glial cells” are the cells in the body that help maintain homeostasis ( Gliomas are the most common type of brain tumor in the United States and grow at one of the fastest rates. Studies on weather components of marijuana would help with the treatment of Gliomas found that, the THC does in fact inhibit the growth of malignant Gliomas. A study in Spain showed that the THC caused the tumor cells to engage in a process called autopathy, which is when a cell self digests (Guzman 2003). The most interesting part of the study was that the cannabinoid seemed to be selective in the killing of only malignant cells and not the healthy viable ones (Massi & Parolaro 2008). Since the research is new and limited here in the United States that reasons for how and why the cannabinoids targeting and killing the cancer cells is still unknown. However since marijuana is more widely accepted in Europe many extensive studies are being conducted over there.
Conclusion:
Marijuana has not been proven to be addictive, but people do demonstrate addictive behavior toward it ( It is a large assumption that since marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance that it is highly addictive, but the research shows that it is not ( Though there is only minimal research on the effects of medical marijuana on neurological diseases, the studies done this far have had promising results. Having an anti-addictive treatment to diseases and sicknesses is one that people could highly benefit from on account that many of the treatments and medications out there are so highly addictive. If the United States government would allow for more money to go into this research, there may be more benefits of marijuana then there are negatives.
References
“Basic Facts About Drugs: Marijuana”. 1999. American Council for Drug Education. 12, 2010.
“What is Alzheimer's?” 2010. Alzheimer's Association. March 12, 2010 & March 22, 2010.
Eubanks, M. Lisa, Rogers, J. Claude, Beusher, E. Albert, et. al."A Molecular Link Between the Active Component of Marijuana and Alzheimer's Disease Pathology". Mol Pharm. 2006; 3(6): 773-777. March 14, 2010.
"What is Parkinson's Disease?" Nation Parkinson's Association. March 11, 2010
Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. Washington, DC: Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health, Institute of Medicine. 1999. 259 p.
Subthalamic nucleus. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 11, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: March 10, 2010
Massi, Paola & Parolaro, Daniela. "Cannabinoids as potential new therapy for the treatment of gliomas". Expert Reviews. January 2008, Vol. 8, No. 1, Pages 37-49. March 22, 2010.
"Medical Uses". (2010). March 13, 2010.
Guzman, Manuel. 2003. Cannabinoids: potenital anticancer agents. Nature Reviews Cancer 3: 745-755.