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Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

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Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#21

Post by pmiller2 »

kharms wrote: post #8
pmiller2 wrote: post #2

A very exciting petri dish result! If this actually works in an animal model, it could be a true breakthrough. I am wondering if THC in vivo might undergo some kind of subtle metabolism after being ingested or smoked so that it still binds to cannaboid receptors, but doesn't affect beta amyloid.

If I recall correctly (from a radiolab interview w/ Dr.Tsai [0]), something like 99% of animal model successes don't transfer to humans. [0] http://www.radiolab.org/story/bringing-gamma-back/

Be that as it may (and, yes, if mice had access to all human medical knowledge, no mouse would probably ever die of cancer), I'd still be more hopeful about an animal study than one done on a cell culture. In fact, given the relative safety of marijuana and THC, and the severity of the disease, I could even see going straight to humans to see if it can abate symptoms in actual Alzheimer's patients.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#22

Post by aperiodic »

kinleyd wrote: post #10

Hmm, seems like it's time to seriously consider extracting some THC and CBD. I'm looking at this: https://magicalbutter.com/ . Anyone have some experience with this type of gear?

I've had good results with a normal crock pot on the high setting overnight.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#25

Post by devrandomguy »

kinleyd wrote: post #10

Hmm, seems like it's time to seriously consider extracting some THC and CBD. I'm looking at this: https://magicalbutter.com/ . Anyone have some experience with this type of gear?

Their marketing looks quite shady to me: no technical details, uses Facebook likes as a quality metric, defective link to the one third-party review. You definitely want to see a teardown and a proper review of something like this, before you buy it.

If I was going to experiment with a new extraction method, my choice would be to acquire a soxhlet extractor, and experiment with ethanol as a solvent, for producing budder. https://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/pdf/soxhlet4dummies.p..., page 2 shows a DIY version that doesn't require you to purchase glassware. I would recommend putting the whole setup in a larger pot of water, so that you can more easily control the temperature. You can use the same setup as a still, to extract ethanol from something like cheap vodka.

As for methods that I have actually tried, cold butane extraction produces spectacularly clear oil, which eventually dries to shatter. Do freeze the weed first, don't freeze your hand. Do leave the extract spread out in a thin layer to evaporate until it forms hard shatter, otherwise some very scary butane will remain in the product.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#26

Post by Broken_Hippo »

jjuel wrote: post #15
ianai wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All that really needs to happen is federal legalization. Once that's done, it doesn't matter whether pharma is behind it or not. I bet though they would quickly release all sorts of cannabinoid products. (Not everyone wants to be high/timed release doses etc)

That is basically what I meant though. I don't see it being an easy sell to get federal legalization.

Possibly, but it isn't what was written. Besides, there are lots of countries that aren't the US who might be more willing to approve this sort of thing. After all, those governments actually have stake in lowering health care costs (if this does, in fact, make costs lower) because they fund health care through taxes.

It isn't like "big pharma" won't make money off of it, since they'll be able to grow their own crops, complete with GMO help to produce more of the "helpful" stuff, afterwards concentrating it into pill or inhaler form and checking for purity. The GMO and the final pill can likely be patented, giving them reason to pressure the government by lobbying. Something similar with health insurers, as lowering costs is in their best interests since Alzheimer's can be an expensive disease.

The main lobby they'd have to worry about in the US is from places like private prisons and the like, because they can lose money with this - but even that is doubtful unless they change the laws for recreational use.

Additionally, public opinion has been increasingly changing for this sort of thing, and that is starting to be shown through government policies (though slowly with the current administration's attitude), as evidenced by the fast-tracking of MDMA trials treating PTSD. I'm not sure that could have happened 20 years ago, and definitely not 30 years ago during the "Just say no!" heyday.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#27

Post by lightedman »

kinleyd wrote: post #10

Hmm, seems like it's time to seriously consider extracting some THC and CBD. I'm looking at this: https://magicalbutter.com/ . Anyone have some experience with this type of gear?

Butter is okay but I highly recommend just making an extract you can vaporize. Most people don't realize that Delta-9-THC turns even more psychoactive when it undergoes a liver pass, converting into another delta analogue of the molecule.

Pure acetone (no colorants or scents added) and a hot plate is all you need. Acetone wash your ground material for 10 seconds, filter/strain through coffee filters onto a hot plate set at ~150F (make sure this is in a well-ventilated room) and let evaporate for an hour.

Done and ready to go. Far safer than most other extraction methods, which rely upon high gas pressures or even more highly-flammable (and explosive) substances.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#28

Post by JamesBarney »

guyt00 wrote: post #20

Problems with this terrible title: 1. In vitro petri dish testing is a million light years away from showing a compound works in humans. 2. This is a particularly bad problem in brain diseases as getting your compound to cross the blood-brain barrier in correct therapeutic quantities is extremely difficult. 3. We have lots of direct antibodies that kill beta amyloid in vivo that are very advanced in human trials. The…

Yeah over the past few years I've been convinced that beta amyloid is a not a cause of Alzheimer's but a red herring symptom. Too many drugs have failed.

Maybe its a disease caused by glial cell dysfunction where beta amyloid is just the most obvious but not most important piece of trash that collects in the brain. And it's just a terrible coincidence injections of beta amyloid have similar effects as Alzheimer's.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#29

Post by kinleyd »

devrandomguy wrote: post #25
kinleyd wrote: post #10

Hmm, seems like it's time to seriously consider extracting some THC and CBD. I'm looking at this: https://magicalbutter.com/ . Anyone have some experience with this type of gear?

Their marketing looks quite shady to me: no technical details, uses Facebook likes as a quality metric, defective link to the one third-party review. You definitely want to see a teardown and a proper review of something like this, before you buy it. If I was going to experiment with a new extraction method, my choice would be to acquire a soxhlet extractor, and experiment with ethanol as a solvent, for producing bud…

Yes, the emphasis on Facebook likes does make one wonder. Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.

Re: Marijuana Compound Removes Toxic Alzheimer’s Protein from the Brain

#30

Post by Danihan »

JamesBarney wrote: post #28
guyt00 wrote: post #20

Problems with this terrible title: 1. In vitro petri dish testing is a million light years away from showing a compound works in humans. 2. This is a particularly bad problem in brain diseases as getting your compound to cross the blood-brain barrier in correct therapeutic quantities is extremely difficult. 3. We have lots of direct antibodies that kill beta amyloid in vivo that are very advanced in human trials. The…

Yeah over the past few years I've been convinced that beta amyloid is a not a cause of Alzheimer's but a red herring symptom. Too many drugs have failed. Maybe its a disease caused by glial cell dysfunction where beta amyloid is just the most obvious but not most important piece of trash that collects in the brain. And it's just a terrible coincidence injections of beta amyloid have similar effects as Alzheimer's.

IMO it's neuronal autophagy failing. Plaques accumulating and PH being thrown off are symptoms of that.
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