A Better Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

Not only does cannabis offer relief from anxiety and pain, the plant offers a vast array of other practical, medicinal uses. When consumed it works with the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in our bodies, which receives signals from a complex group of molecules  that includes cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids. Knowing this, some leading-edge  doctors believe there is great promise in the prevention and treatment for Alzheimer’s  patients with the use of cannabis. Meanwhile, the FDA continues to investigate the  deceptive dealings between its agency and the maker of the controversial new  Alzheimer’s drug, Biogen. Perhaps they could instead direct their attention to the  potentials of cannabis as an all-natural alternative to those costly, ineffective  pharmaceuticals.

While Biogen is yet another Alzheimer’s drug that merely targets to delay the disease,  other medications must also be used to treat associated symptoms. The FDA  accelerated its approval, although there is little evidence that the drug will ever slow  cognitive decline; its intended purpose. They went through extremes to clear it and make it available to consumers. However, due to the financial burden on Medicare, the FDA reduced the availability to a fraction of patients, so that only those with mild  cognitive impairment or early dementia can receive it. Today more than 6 million  Americans live with AD, but that number is expected to more than double by 2050, to  reach 13 million. As this population of patients continues to grow with no effective preventative care or known cure, we must ask, why doesn’t the government devote their  valuable resources to support clinical research on cannabis as a first line treatment?

While that question may go unanswered for some time, a few studies provide promising  results that cannabis is a powerful combatant against the disease. The cannabis plant  provides a synergy of molecules including CBD, THC, cannabinoids, terpenes and  flavonoids that naturally target various aspects of dementia and ultimately suppress key  factors in the degenerative process.

Studies have shown that toxic heavy metals are key in the development of Alzheimer’s.  Homegrown or commercially raised plants can naturally draw in heavy metals from the  soil, even in a controlled environment. According to botanical studies performed at The

University of Mississippi, “the natural flora of yeasts and molds that occur on plants of  every species, are also found on cannabis plants.” Therefore, high levels of these and  other bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella must be removed prior to human  consumption. The FDA has provided some perimeters for this, but until there are  industry standards and regulations, there is a wide variation in quality of the end product  to the consumer.

“As of October 2020, some 24 states and Canada issued regulations for the testing of  heavy metal content in cannabis,” providing limitations for the big four, “arsenic,  cadmium, lead, and mercury,” according to Brian Smith of Cannabis Science and  Technology. In order for consumers to trust in what they are receiving, products should  be extracted, tested and labeled in ways that offer the best of the cannabis plant, in its  complete form, free from all toxic byproducts.

Thankfully, in recent years, an innovative extraction process has been implemented that  does just that. This technology, closed loop extraction, removes all unwanted biproducts, including heavy metals, as they are extracted and purged. It also provides a

complete molecular profile of the plant in the end product, live resin, thus resulting in the  best viable option for use in medicinal applications for AD and all other diseases. Currently, doctor prescribed medications must have an active pharmaceutical ingredient  list, available within each dose. Now that live resin is obtainable, commercial growers  can offer an accurate product profile to the health care industry, while delivering powerful healing extracts in small, easily consumable doses.

In the past, consumers have been receiving inaccurate doses, as much of what has  been marketed proved to be significantly lower in the desirable cannabis compounds  than labeled. Moreover, there is a loss of terpenes and potency as old methods of  extraction and less desirable storage conditions were used. By using state-of-the-art  commercial equipment and a closed loop extraction system, those issues are no longer  a problem. As mentioned, this process results in preserving the complete profile of the cannabis strain. Under examination, applying a complete profile as opposed to solely implementing CBD or THC, for example, has been found to be far more effective. In the  final stages of extraction, gases are purged from the compounds and the live resin is  available with vastly higher concentrates of THC, CBD, cannabinoids, terpenes,  flavonoids and nothing else, thus resulting in more intense aroma, flavors and medicinal  benefits.

Live resin retains the valuable oleoresins of the cannabis plant in the most compact, complete and effective form of medicinal cannabis and as it continues to be  implemented and studied, it will become much easier for future generations to receive  the benefits of cannabis to prevent and treat AD. If you ask your doctor for a

recommendation you may want to mention this and know that it is available at  bepainfreeglobal.com.

Wishing you many blessings along the way, Mary Ann Merriman, investigating and  reporting for bepainfreeglobal.com.