THC CHANGES
BODYCB2
RECEPTORS IN:
The bones,
whose health
and healing
are altered.
The heart, which beats
faster in the short term.
However, cannabis could
reduce both cardiac
rhythm and blood
pressure in the long run.
The intestines, whose
rhythmical motions are
reduced, improving a
person's appetite.
The immune system,
where the white blood
cells become less active.
Subsequently, cannabis
could be efficient against
chronic inflammation, etc.
THC AFFECTS THE BRAIN'S
CB1 RECEPTORS IN:
The hippocampus, a centre
of memory, which becomes
poorer at storing memories.
The amygdala, which reacts
by curbing fear reactions –
also to things which we know
to be dangerous.
The cerebral cortex,
which regulates
important neuro-
transmitters such as
dopamine, serotonin,
and noradrenaline.The spinal cord,
which curbs pain
nerve signals to the
brain, causing
patients to feel
less pain.The basal ganglia, which
control our motions and
steer our coordination.
Cannabis fi res
at randomThe active ingredient in
cannabis, THC, binds to two
different receptors, which exist
almost everywhere in the body.
have allowed cannabis ingredients to be
tested in medical trials, and according to the
most recent scientific studies, the forbidden
plant involves a huge potential. Not only could
cannabis cure some of the worst diseases of our
time such as dementia and epilepsy – scientists
will also soon be able to customize cannabis
drugs, which could cure severe diseases in thebrain and the body without the
patients getting "stoned".CANNABIS HALTS DEMENTIA
Cannabis, which is also known as hashish, pot,
skunk, and marijuana – is best-known as an
intoxicating agent. According to the UN, about
200 million people worldwide use cannabis on
a regular basis. They smoke, eat, or otherwise
absorb leaves, seeds, flowers, or resin from
two species of hemp: Cannabis sativa and
Cannabis indica. The plant parts include the
THC molecule, cannabidiol, and at least 100
other chemical ingredients, which cause a
powerful feeling of wellbeing in the users.
However, the ingredients of the cannabis
plant also cause short and long-term side
effects such as palpitation, concentration
problems, addiction, and psychoses, and so,
cannabis is categorized as an illegal intoxicant
drug in major parts of the world. Nevertheless,
scientists in labs throughout the world have
been working unremittingly to find out how
cannabis alters body chemistry – amazingly
recreating a healthy balance in the case of a
series of severe diseases.
A major breakthrough was made last year,
when scientists placed the psycho-active
cannabis molecule THC in culture dishes with
brain cells with dementia. Biologist Dave
Schubert from the Salk Institute for Biological
Studies in California was taking a closer look at
how the beta-amyloid protein lumps to produce
fatal infection, when brain cells are attacked by
Alzheimer’s, but when he added THC
molecules, he made a very surprising discovery.
After only two days, the brain cell protein
lumps began to dissolve, and the infection in
the cells disappeared – the cannabis molecule
did what scientists had been trying to
accomplish for many years: It prevented sick
brain cells from dying of Alzheimer’s.
Another desperate group of patients found
new hope in 2016, when a neurologist from
New York documented how another active
cannabis ingredient can work miracles. Orrin
Devinsky from the New York University in the
US tested the active ingredient of cannabidiol
on 214 young people with severe epilepsy.
They all suffered from severe convulsive fits,
which doctors were unable to stop. When the
young patients consumed a drink including
pure cannabidiol daily for three months, they
managed to halve the number of seizures, from
averagely one seizure a day to one every other
day. 4 % experienced no seizures during the
three months of the experiment. Once again,
cannabis helped a group of patients, who had
otherwise been given up by their doctors.scienceillustrated.com.au | 63