Now a team from Stanford University School of Medicine has traced the effects of beta-amyloid plaque to activity of the brain’s endogenous cannabinoids, or endocannabinoids. These compounds are produced naturally by the brain and mimic the effects of compounds in cannabis. Among many functions, cannabinoids play a key role in memory and learning.
Looking at brain slices taken from rats, the researchers observed that clumps of beta-amyloid indirectly impaired memory pathways by interfering with the normal activity of cannabinoids.
This interference with the brain’s cannabinoids may be the mechanism by which early memory deficits in Alzheimer’s are formed, says Daniel Madison, PhD, who led the study. Cannabinoids may also present a new opportunity for treating Alzheimer’s before the disease advances, he adds.
The findings were published June 18 in the journal Neuron.
However, Dr. Madison says it would be inaccurate to assume that smoking cannabis could counteract the effects of beta-amyloid plaque on memory and learning.
Why not look to the source of the amyloids and prevent Alzheimer's to begin with? Try a gluten-free diet; the amyloids are caused by gliadin-peptides disrupting the brain's insulin/amylin process. The body already has a process to remove amyloids (autophagy), but can't effectively do so when the source of production is faster than the removal.
Scupperer wrote:Why not look to the source of the amyloids and prevent Alzheimer's to begin with? Try a gluten-free diet; the amyloids are caused by gliadin-peptides disrupting the brain's insulin/amylin process. The body already has a process to remove amyloids (autophagy), but can't effectively do so when the source of production is faster than the removal.