A 2023 Update into Medical Cannabis and Degenerative Brain Disease Treatment

Can medicinal marijuana help in the treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease patients? Ongoing research from 2006 until the present is paving the way for potential new treatment methods.

Scientists have been researching the medicinal qualities of marijuana with an interest in how it can affect degenerative brain conditions. The main conditions present in current society are Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. Every year, about 5 million Americans and 1 billion people worldwide die from degenerative brain diseases. Research into this subject began after an accidental discovery in 2006 and is still ongoing. Let’s define medical cannabis before discussing the studies so far.

Medical Cannabis is Not Street Cannabis

Before any scientist begins studying treatment of degenerative brain conditions using marijuana, they will ensure the high quality of the cannabis they use. Using marijuana from renowned sources such as NYC BUD Long Island City, NY allows scientists to gain clearer results and gives easier access to the specific compounds which make medical marijuana perfect for study.

Street marijuana is grown in non-sterile conditions, often illegally. It comes with sprays such as silica, which makes the buds look like they contain more crystals. These sprays can be poisonous. Medical cannabis is grown under strict, sterile conditions. It is processed within local regulations and held to high quality control standards. This makes it ideal for studies, unlike the potentially corrupt street cannabis.

The Studies into Medical Cannabis and Degenerative Brain Disorder

Medical Marijuana first became a potential treatment for Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other brain diseases, back in 2006. Initially the finding came from Molecular Pharmaceuticals, who published a paper on the molecular link between marijuana and the pathology behind Alzheimer’s Disease. They found that THC inhibits Aβ aggregation, a main problem in degenerative neurological diseases. This first paper was mere speculation, but it didn’t take long for further studies to get underway.

Ten years later, there was a body of theories and lab tests which backed up what scientists speculated in that initial paper. Control studies came into action. This paper investigated the impact of marijuana on regional cerebral brain flow compared to a healthy brain. It supports the use of marijuana to treat degeneration of the hippocampus through demonstrating how the compounds inside the plant can slow this degeneration. A second paper[i] released in June 2015 used THC to treat symptoms in those with dementia in a controlled trial. THC improved the quality of life in the patients who used it.

Where Studies Point in 2023?

There are so many papers on the use of marijuana as a treatment method that it has become easier to look towards the reviews. One such review[ii] into dementia treatment using medical marijuana noted that it was effective to eliminate agitation, disinhibition, irritability, aberrant motor behavior, nocturnal behavior disorders, aberrant vocalization, resting care, rigidity, and cognitive scores.

Despite all these results, scientists need clearer, better-defined evidence in newer studies. So far, the outcome looks positive. Further work must evolve to focus not on proving that THC and marijuana can treat these diseases. Further work must encompass real forms of administration, active testing, and development of new products which can perform the speculated treatment. It might just change the way we treat brain conditions in the future.

[i]https://n.neurology.org/content/84/23/2338.short

[ii]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546328/