7 ms·
Cannabinoids remove plaque-forming Alzheimer's proteins from brain cells (2016)
- ProjectArcturis 7mo agoThere are easily hundreds of compounds that can reduce beta-amyloid in vitro. This is a decade-old nothingburger.
- anjel 7mo agoPro: Salk Institute Con: Preliminary Research, In Vitro
- whycome 7mo agoSalk? You mean the vaccine guy? /s And also, apparently, the registered trademark? > The researchers found that high levels of amyloid beta were associated with cellular inflammation and higher rates of neuron death. They demonstrated that exposing the cells to THC reduced amyloid beta protein levels and eliminated the inflammatory response from the nerve cells caused by the protein, thereby allowing the nerve cells to survive.
- magospietato 7mo agoCon: from 2016 w. no followup?
- cdata 7mo agoThis appears to be dated 2016. Did the preliminary results amount to anything?
- mawise 7mo agoHuman trial in 2025 looks promising? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41160460/#:~:text=ResultsAt%20week%2026%2C%20Mini%2DMental,using%20the%20mixed%20model%20analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41160460/#:~:text=ResultsAt%...
- rusakov-field 7mo agoMan, too bad weed gives me bad panic attacks. Alzheimers is the scariest disease I know so maybe if the studies pan out in time and it becomes a standard preventative, I might consider trying again. But somehow I doubt it will be found to be that effective.
- dmorgan81 7mo agoHave you tried L-theanine? I also get panic attacks with weed, but L-theanine seems to help keep them at bay.
- Loughla 7mo agoI've tried everything and I still get panic attacks. I used to love smoking a small hitter about an hour before bed. I've always had insomnia and that was the one thing that actually helped me sleep. When it was illegal, I loved it. I would smoke 2 or 3 times a week just for sleep, and I was healthy and happy. . . Because sleep is important, and I never wanted to take sleeping pills because dependency. Now that it's legal and everywhere, I just get super fun panic attacks. I'm worthless, I'm failing as a parent, everybody hates me, you know, the normal anxiety attacks. Even Charlotte's Web that's SUPER low THC gives me panic attacks. It's like my body hates it when I'm happy? I would give anything to be able to fix this problem.
- karim79 7mo agoI also get what I would describe as "near" panic attacks when I smoke (about once every two weeks, with friends). I realised that after about 15 minutes or so it cools down and I feel, perhaps, more relaxed than before I started. Purely anecdotal but I feel you. Maybe a bit of cooldown and good company helps with the paranoia.
- R_D_Olivaw 7mo agoSo, I sort of get these from time to time, but I notice that it hits the worst when : 1. I've eaten like crap. Things too heavy I'm grease, processed food, and red meats. When I'm rating cleaner, I don't feel as panicky 2. If I feel the panic coming on, I HAVE to do some sort of aerobic exercise in that first 15 minute "induction" phase of smoking. Otherwise I'll carry the panic along through the entire session. FWIW, YMMV
- MarkusQ 7mo agoRemove them and replace them with...Doritos?
- MarkusQ 7mo agoI seem to have touched a nerve. In my defense, it may have been a stupid joke but it's not as stupid as trying to prevent brain damage by taking cannabinoids at levels known to cause brain damage.
- Dansvidania 7mo agoThey can’t all be winners, right? Here. Take my upvotes to balance it out a smidge.
- Aurornis 7mo agoI only had time to skim the paper. Notably, the effect is concentration dependent and required high concentrations of THC. The chart shows it really starting in the 0.1uM range and then taking off in the 1uM range. I don’t know what levels are achieved during normal use but I did find some studies that successfully killed a lot of hippocampal neuronal cells after 6 days at 1uM range. So the levels of THC observed in this study appear to be in the same range where things start getting really disrupted in cells. In other words, don’t expect to replicate these results with normal recreational use.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- mrosett 7mo agoReminds me of this classic: https://xkcd.com/1217/ https://xkcd.com/1217/
- farmdawgnation 7mo agoThere may not be many constants in this life, especially in this day and age, but I do find it humbling that "there is always an xkcd for that" holds true.
- SeanAnderson 7mo ago...is there an XKCD relevant to the fact there's always a relevant XKCD?
- eclecticfrank 7mo agohttps://xkcd.com/244/ https://xkcd.com/244/
- simonh 7mo agoNew studies show that research is a leading cause of cancer in rats.
- anjel 7mo ago[flagged]
- beepbooptheory 7mo agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#generated
- JumpCrisscross 7mo ago“Don't post generated comments or AI-edited comments. HN is for conversation between humans.” https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- bitwize 7mo agoGet stupid now to avoid cognitive decline later? Not sure I like that tradeoff...
- hirvi74 7mo agoOne adapts to it over time like any other state. Homeostasis is a blessing and a curse.
- SecretDreams 7mo agoAs opposed to getting stupid now and getting cognitive decline later?
- carlos22 7mo agoNot really sure what you mean, I saw people on 10mg THC wring crazy code in a crazy speed. Some of them need it to be able to focus and think clear. Drugs never work "one way" for everybody. And its not only people its many things that affect how they work (setting, culture, education etc.). And if you think man kind does not need any drugs (including alcohol), if you look at it from a historic perspective we might even need it.
- bitwize 7mo agoUnfortunately I know how THC works on me and it's not very desirable.
- kakacik 7mo agoLess mental capacity for structured thoughts during/after getting high is normal, as is massive increase of creativity. Mind wanders a lot. The effect goes away completely in a day or two but there is no end how high can user spiral into anxiety trip from expecting weird stuff and losing some control. Rather frequent use (as in not every day all the day but lets say couple of times a week) can have some decline but IMHO its still temporary. If the brain is already used to lower learning and complex analysis activity then it will be compounded but otherwise it shouldn't. I sometimes fall here, and I integrate internal banking systems for a living for 2+decades in very competitive place plus raising family and have mortgages, so no shortage of stress. Any miniscule decline is more than compensated by relief of stress and some giggly happiness, plus that massive creativity spike which allows me to catch up with stuff slowly sliding out of focus (and then biting hard like bureaucracy, taxes etc). Literally subconsciousness sliding notes underneath the doors of my mind, topics often pop out of blue, in such frequency that I sometimes struggle to keep up and take notes since next one with higher priority comes and then next one. Full on stoner - thats a goner, if we talk decades of use, I think. YMMV. But - I've met folks who had periods of life where they smoked all the time every day, for 5-10 years, usually teens (where I would say folks are very vulnerable since brain is still evolving). All are fine now in various roles in their lives.
- laughing_man 7mo agoDo we still think clearing beta amyloid plaques will halt the progress of Alzheimer's? My impression is we're treating marker for the disease and not the cause.
- Retz4o4 7mo agoCorrect they don’t. It’s like removing the gravestones from the graveyard.
- criddell 7mo agoNot halt, but slow the progression. https://www.nebraskamed.com/health/conditions-and-services/neurological-care/amyloid-plaque-removal-slows-progression-of https://www.nebraskamed.com/health/conditions-and-services/n...
- jcranmer 7mo agoToo bad we've had like a half-dozen putative Alzheimer's drugs that clear amyloid beta that turn out to do nothing to slow or prevent Alzheimer's. Actually, I think even by 2016 we already had enough phase 3 drug failures that the amyloid hypothesis was severely called into question?
- nikkwong 7mo agoThat's not true. Monoclonal antibodies are on the market right now which slow the progression of the disease (by removing amyloid).
- jcranmer 7mo agoAIUI, all such results are because the FDA has given up since aduhelm and said "well, if it clears amyloid, that's as good as slowing Alzheimer's, right?" despite the actual results on Alzheimer's progression being largely negative.
- riskassessment 7mo agoFor what it's worth, early statins were originally cleared based only on the evidence that they lower cholesterol without longer term studies showing a reduction in mortality. Of course there is now plenty of evidence showing statins improve overall endpoints.
- simulator5g 7mo agoThat doesn't sound like the same thing at all.
- Auracle 7mo agoThat’s true. Similarly, there were other drugs that lowered cholesterol that didn’t show a significant reduction in coronary events. As we later learned, it’s not nearly as simple as “cholesterol bad.”
- deleted 7mo ago
- colordrops 7mo agoAnecdotally, when I'm feeling scattered and foggy, when I take a big hit off of my vape pen, I go through a period of noticing how shaky my appendages are, and go through what feels like a physical process of the sensation of my mind "unwrinkling" or unfurling. I often wondered if something was being cleaned out in my brain because I usually feel a lot more calm and still afterward, thoughts more collected.
- DANmode 7mo agoAcetylcholine receptors, at minimum.
- _zagj 7mo agoAnd yet, has anyone ever claimed regular marijuana use improved their memory?
- hirvi74 7mo agoOk fine, I'll chime in. No, it has not improved my memory. Though, I am not really certain anything does. At least, not permanently. Though, I will say the effects on memory are rather complex. Some diminished abilities in some domains, but oddly some enhancements in a select few domains. I am 'neurodivergent' apparently, so my experiences might not be worth much.
- edoceo 7mo agoThere was another recent study showing that THC was creating false short term memories - like "I swear I told you that" - but never did.
- edoceo 7mo agoThere was another recent study showing that THC was creating false short term memories - like "I swear I told you that" - but never did. Cannabis really needs a lot more study.
- anthk 7mo agoI have more trust on 40 hz ultrasound therapies.
- doublerabbit 7mo agoWhy not both, get high while listening to 40 hz ultrasound.
- khana 7mo ago[dead]
- miika 7mo agoYes but.. Amyloid-beta may be part of the innate immune system https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/03/alzheimers-associated-protein-may-be-part-of-the-innate-immune-system/ https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/03/alzheimers-as...
- meetpaleltech 7mo ago[dead]
- mistermaster1 7mo ago[dead]
- oliyoung 7mo ago"reefer madness" has put legitimate research of that plant back immeasurably
- pstuart 7mo agoFor those interested in this and preventative measures, there's been reports about lithium helping prevent Alzheimer's: https://hms.harvard.edu/news/could-lithium-explain-treat-alzheimers-disease https://hms.harvard.edu/news/could-lithium-explain-treat-alz... Standard disclaimers apply.